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đź”´Unity 25 - Virgin Galactic Return to Flight

🔴 After a nearly two-year pause in flights, starting after a deviation from controlled airspace during Sir Richard Branson’s flight in July 2021, the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity is being pr...

VSS Unity 25

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Suborbital
Mission: Test Flight

Suborbital Spaceport America Air launch to Suborbital flight

Virgin Galactic return to space mission ahead of the first commercial flight.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • May 25, 2023, 4:41 p.m.

VSS Unity has landed.


Cosmic_Penguin • May 25, 2023, 4:24 p.m.

SS2 drop


Cosmic_Penguin • May 25, 2023, 4:20 p.m.

Probable close to drop time.


Cosmic_Penguin • May 25, 2023, 4:08 p.m.

Waiting for cabin preparations to complete.


Cosmic_Penguin • May 25, 2023, 4:02 p.m.

SS2 drop soon.


SpaceShipTwo

Family:
Configuration:

The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic.

Specifications
  • Stages
    1
  • Length
    18.0 m
  • Diameter
    8.2 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    ―
  • Launch Mass
    9.0 T
  • Thrust
    310.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    SpaceShipTwo
  • Family
    ―
  • Variant
    ―
  • Alias
    ―
  • Full Name
    SpaceShipTwo
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    ―
  • Low Earth Orbit
    ―
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    ―
  • Direct Geostationary
    ―
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    ―

VSS Unity


Active Human Rated Crew On-board: 6 Crew Capacity: 8
Destination: Suborbital
Serial Number: N202VG

VSS Unity, previously referred to as VSS Voyager, is a SpaceShipTwo-class suborbital rocket-powered crewed spaceplane. It is the second SpaceShipTwo to be built and will be used as part of the Virgin Galactic fleet.

SpaceShipTwo Details

Crew


Michael Masucci

Commander - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: None
Age: None

Frederick W. Sturckow

Pilot - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Aug. 11, 1961
Age: 64

Christopher Huie

Passenger - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: None
Age: None

Jamila Gilbert

Passenger - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: None
Age: None

Luke Mays

Passenger - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: None
Age: None

Beth Moses

Passenger - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: May 30, 1980
Age: 45

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic

(VG)

Founder: Richard Branson Founded: 2004 Successes: 62 Failures: 5 Pending: 1

Agency Type:

Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company within the Virgin Group. It is developing commercial spacecraft and aims to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft are air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two.

INFO WIKI

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Air launch to Suborbital flight

Spaceport America


Falcon 9
Success
2 hours, 39 minutes ago
Starlink Group 10-58
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Space Launch System (SLS)
Success
15 hours, 59 minutes ago
Artemis II
Launch Complex 39B - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Artemis II is the first crewed mission as part of the Artemis program. Artemis II will send a crew of 4 - 3 Americans and 1 Canadian around the moon …


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 17 hours ago
Starlink Group 10-44
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 3 hours ago
Transporter 16 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.


Kinetica 2
Success
3 days, 3 hours ago
Demo Flight (Qingzhou Prototype Spacecraft)
Launch Area 140 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First test launch and mission of CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 rocket, with 3 spacecraft on board: * New March 02 (Qingzhou space station cargo resupply …


Electron
Success
5 days, 5 hours ago
Daughter Of The Stars (LEO-PNT Pathfinder A)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

The European Space Agency (ESA)'s LEO-PNT (Low Earth Orbit Positioning, Navigation and Timing) demonstrator mission will feature a 10-satellite const…


Long March 2C/YZ-1S
Success
6 days, 10 hours ago
Shiyan 33
Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Chinese satellite reported to be for "space environment research" purposes. Actual usage not known.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 15 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-17
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2D
Success
1 week ago
SuperView Neo 2-05 & 06
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Commercial Synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites built by CAST for China Siwei Survey and Mapping Technology Co. Ltd.


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
16 x Rassvet-3
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Payload identities uncertain. Batch of 16 Rassvet-3 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Russian Byuro-1440 (Bureau 1440) conste…