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Virgin Galactic’s first space tourists finally soar, an Olympian and a mother-daughter duo

Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean. (August 10) (Production Marissa Duhaney)

This photo provided Virgin Galactic shows passengers during Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight on Thursday Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday. The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness.(Virgin Galactic via AP)

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Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered plane Unity 22, lands after a short flight to the edge of space at Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)

Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered plane Unity 22, left, flies past its mothership Eve on its way to the edge of space after taking off from Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)

Virgin Galactic’s mothership Eve, carrying the rocket-powered plane Unity 22, flies after taking off from Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)

Space tourists, from left, Anastatia Mayers, Jon Goodwin and Keisha Schahaff pose for photos before boarding their Virgin Galactic flight at Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)

Guests wave flags of Antigua and Barbuda while watching the return of Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered plane Unity at Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride, including a British former Olympian and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean island. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)

Space tourists, from left, Anastatia Mayers, Jon Goodwin and Keisha Schahaff walk to the tarmac before boarding their Virgin Galactic flight at Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)

Virgin Galactic’s mothership Eve, carrying the rocket-powered plane Unity 22, takes off from Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP) — Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.

The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness.

This first private customer flight had been delayed for years; its success means Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.

“That was by far the most awesome thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Jon Goodwin, who competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics.

Goodwin, 80, was among the first to buy a Virgin Galactic ticket in 2005 and feared, after later being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, that he’d be out of luck. Since then he’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and cycled back down, and said he hopes his spaceflight shows others with Parkinson’s and other illnesses that ”it doesn’t stop you doing things.”

Ticket prices were $200,000 when Goodwin signed up. The cost is now $450,000.

He was joined on the flight by sweepstakes winner Keisha Schahaff, 46, a health coach from Antigua, and her daughter, Anastatia Mayers, 18, a student at Scotland’s University of Aberdeen. They high-fived and pumped their fists as the spaceport crowd cheered their return.

“A childhood dream has come true,” said Schahaff, who took pink Antiguan sand up with her. Added her daughter: “I have no words. The only thought I had the whole time was ‘Wow!’ ”

With the company’s astronaut trainer and one of the two pilots, it marked the first time women outnumbered men on a spaceflight, four to two.

Cheers erupted from families and friends watching below when the craft’s rocket motor fired after it was released from the twin-fuselage aircraft that had carried it aloft. The rocket ship’s portion of the flight lasted about 15 minutes and it reached 55 miles (88 kilometers) high.

It was Virgin Galactic’s seventh trip to space since 2018, but the first with a ticket-holder. Branson, the company’s founder, hopped on board for the first full-size crew ride in 2021. Italian military and government researchers soared in June on the first commercial flight. About 800 people are currently on Virgin Galactic’s waiting list, according to the company.

In contrast to Virgin Galactic’s plane-launched rocket ship, the capsules used by SpaceX and Blue Origin are fully automated and parachute back down.

Like Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin aims for the fringes of space, quick ups-and-downs from West Texas. Blue Origin has launched 31 people so far, but flights are on hold following a rocket crash last fall. The capsule, carrying experiments but no passengers, landed intact.

SpaceX, is the only private company flying customers all the way to orbit, charging a much heftier price, too: tens of millions of dollars per seat. It’s already flown three private crews. NASA is its biggest customer, relying on SpaceX to ferry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station. since 2020.

People have been taking on adventure travel for decades, the risks underscored by the recent implosion of the Titan submersible that killed five passengers on their way down to view the Titanic wreckage. Virgin Galactic suffered its own casualty in 2014 when its rocket plane broke apart during a test flight, killing one pilot. Yet space tourists are still lining up, ever since the first one rocketed into orbit in 2001 with the Russians.

Branson, who lives in the British Virgin Islands, watched Thursday’s flight from a party in Antigua. He was joined by the country’s prime minister, as well as Schahaff’s mother and other relatives.

“Welcome to the club,” he told the new spacefliers via X, formerly Twitter.

Several months ago, Branson held a virtual lottery to establish a pecking order for the company’s first 50 customers — dubbed the Founding Astronauts. Virgin Galactic said the group agreed Goodwin would go first, given his age and his Parkinson’s.

This story has been updated to correct introductory price to $200,000, not $250,000.

Dunn reported from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

All aboard! Virgin Galactic flies its first tourists to the edge of space

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Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.

The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness.

Cheers erupted from families and friends watching from below when the craft’s rocket motor fired after it was released from the plane that had carried it aloft. The rocket ship reached about 55 miles high.

Richard Branson’s company expects to begin offering monthly trips to customers on its winged space plane, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business .

Column: In billionaires’ space race, tourism is a sideshow to quest for moon landing contracts

Branson, Bezos and Musk say their space companies are commercial entities aimed at tourism, but its government contracts they really want.

July 13, 2021

Virgin Galactic passenger Jon Goodwin , who was among the first to buy a ticket in 2005, said he had faith that he would someday make the trip. The 80-year-old athlete — he competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics — has Parkinson’s disease and wants to be an inspiration to others.

“I hope it shows them that these obstacles can be the start rather than the end to new adventures,” he said in a statement.

Ticket prices were $200,000 when Goodwin signed up. The cost is now $450,000.

He was joined by sweepstakes winner Keisha Schahaff , 46, a health coach from Antigua, and her daughter, Anastatia Mayers , 18, a student at Scotland’s University of Aberdeen. Also on board: two pilots and the company’s astronaut trainer.

It was Virgin Galactic’s seventh trip to space since 2018, but the first with a ticket-holder. Branson, the company’s founder, hopped on board for the first full-size crew ride in 2021. Italian military and government researchers soared in June on the first commercial flight . About 800 people are currently on Virgin Galactic’s waiting list, according to the company.

Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic crew go to the edge of space and back

Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson celebrated on Sunday after successfully going to suborbital space on a crewed flight.

July 11, 2021

Virgin Galactic’s rocket ship launches from the belly of an airplane, not from the ground, and requires two pilots in the cockpit. Once the mothership reaches about 50,000 feet (10 miles), the space plane is released and fires its rocket motor to make the final push to just over 50 miles up. Passengers can unstrap from their seats, float around the cabin for a few minutes and take in the sweeping views of Earth, before the space plane glides back home and lands on a runway.

In contrast, the capsules used by SpaceX and Blue Origin are fully automated and parachute back down.

Like Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin aims for the fringes of space, quick ups-and-downs from West Texas. Blue Origin has launched 31 people so far, but flights are on hold following a rocket crash last fall. The capsule, carrying experiments but no passengers, landed intact.

SpaceX is the only private company flying customers all the way to orbit, charging a much heftier price, too: tens of millions of dollars per seat. It’s already flown three private crews. NASA is its biggest customer, relying on SpaceX to ferry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station since 2020.

Jeff Bezos launches new era of space travel with Blue Origin ride

Following Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson to the edge of space, Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos ushered in the era of lower-cost commercial spaceflight -- or so many scientists and would-be astro-tourists hope.

July 20, 2021

People have been taking on adventure travel for decades, the risks underscored by the recent implosion of the Titan submersible that killed five passengers on their way down to view the Titanic wreckage. Virgin Galactic suffered its own casualty in 2014 when its rocket plane broke apart during a test flight, killing one pilot. Yet space tourists are still lining up, ever since the first one rocketed into orbit in 2001 with the Russians.

Branson, who lives in the British Virgin Islands, watched Thursday’s flight from a party in Antigua. He had held a virtual lottery to establish a pecking order for the company’s first 50 customers — dubbed the Founding Astronauts. Virgin Galactic said the group agreed Goodwin would go first, given his age and his Parkinson’s.

Dunn reported from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

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Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic complete successful space flight

By William Harwood

July 12, 2021 / 7:09 AM EDT / CBS News

Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson rocketed into space Sunday, an edge-of-the-seat sub-orbital test flight intended to demonstrate his company's air-launched spaceplane is ready for passengers who can afford the ultimate thrill ride.

And it appeared to do just that, zooming to an altitude just above 50 miles and giving Branson and his five crewmates about three minutes of weightlessness and spectacular views of Earth before plunging back into the atmosphere for a spiraling descent to touchdown at Virgin's New Mexico launch site.

"I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid but honestly, nothing could prepare you for the view of Earth from space," Branson, 70, said after landing, at a rare loss for words. "It was just magical. ... I'm just taking it all in, it's unreal."

The flight effectively upstaged Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who  plans a sub-orbital spaceflight of his own aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft on July 20 as the two companies compete for passengers in the emerging commercial space marketplace.

Bezos complimented Branson and his team after landing, posting a note to Instagram saying "congratulations on the flight. Can't wait to join the club!"

Branson's trip began in dramatic fashion as Virgin's twin-fuselage carrier jet — with the VSS Unity rocket-powered spaceplane bolted under its wing — lifted away from the company's Spaceport America launch site near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, at 8:40 a.m. local time (10:40 a.m. EDT).

Joining the globe-trotting billionaire aboard Unity were pilots David Mackay and Michael Masucci, along with Virgin astronaut trainer Beth Moses, flight engineer Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla, the company's vice president of government relations.

With a throng of reporters and a global audience following along on YouTube and across Virgin's social media channels, the Virgin mothership VMS Eve slowly climbed to an altitude of about 45,000 feet and then, after a final round of safety checks, released Unity high above the New Mexico desert.

Seconds later, Mackay and Masucci, both veterans of earlier test flights to space, ignited Unity's hybrid rocket motor, slamming the crew back in their seats as the spacecraft shot forward and pitched up onto a near-vertical trajectory.

Burning rubberized solid propellant with liquid nitrous oxide, Unity's hybrid motor fired for about one minute, accelerating the craft to about three times the speed of sound before shutting down.

The spaceplane continued zooming upward along a ballistic trajectory, giving Branson and company a chance to briefly unstrap, float about the cabin and marvel at the spectacular view as Unity reached its maximum altitude of 53.5 miles — three-and-a-half miles above what NASA and the FAA consider the "boundary" of space.

Live video from inside the spacecraft showed Branson and his crewmates floating free of their seats and enjoying the sensation of weightlessness, not to mention the out-of-this-world view.

"To all you kids down there, I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars," Branson said while his cremates cavorted in microgravity. "Now I'm an adult, in a spaceship with lots of other wonderful adults, looking down to our beautiful, beautiful Earth.

"To the next generation of dreamers: If we can do this, just imagine what you can do!" he said, before floating out of his seat. 

A few moments later, the spacecraft then began the long plunge back to Earth.

Using an innovation pioneered by aircraft designer Burt Rutan, Unity's wing and tail fins are designed to pivot upward 60 degrees once out of the atmosphere, giving the spaceplane the aerodynamics of a badminton shuttlecock, ensuring a belly-down re-entry.

Mackay and Masucci rotated the wing upward shortly after the rocket motor shut down and left it in the "feathered" orientation until it descended to around 55,000 feet when it was pivoted back parallel to the fuselage, turning Unity into a glider.

From there, the pilots guided the spaceplane through a spiraling descent, lined up on Spaceport America's 12,000-foot-long runway and settled to a picture-perfect landing, closing out a flight that lasted 59 minutes from takeoff to touchdown.

Mike Moses, Virgin president for space flight and safety, said an initial look at the data showed Unity came through its latest mission in great shape.

"We've looked at the data, we've done our quick engineering walk around (and) the ship looks pristine, no issues whatsoever," he said. "We'll take our time, do all the detailed inspections, and then we'll figure out when we're ready to go again. But ship looked perfect."

NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Space Force agree that space effectively begins at an altitude of 50 miles where the atmosphere is so thin that wings, rudders and other aerodynamic surfaces no longer have any effect.

As a result, Branson, Bennett and Bandla are now considered full-fledged Virgin astronauts, a distinction granted to Mackay, Masucci and Moses after earlier test flights.

Sunday's launching marked Unity's 22nd test flight, its fourth trip to space, Virgin's first with a six-person crew on board and the first for Branson, who beat Bezos into space by nine days.

Virgin Galactic and Bezos' Blue Origin both plan to launch passengers on flights to the edge of space and back and both are in the final stages of test flights before beginning commercial operations.

Branson effectively blindsided Bezos, scheduling Sunday's flight just ahead of the Amazon founder's, which had already been announced . But Branson insisted again Sunday that he doesn't view the competition as a "race" for space.

"I've said this so many times, it really wasn't a race," Branson said. "We're just delighted that everything went so fantastically well. We wish Jeff the absolute best and the people who are going up with him during his flight."

Virgin plans two more test flights, but company officials hope to begin launching paying customers, at $250,000 or more per seat, in early 2022. Flush with success Sunday, Branson announced a charity sweepstakes benefitting Space for Humanity, saying two winners will be selected to join one of the initial commercial flights.

• Virgin Galactic
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Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News.

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Richard Branson Has Completed A Historic Trip To The Edge Of Space On Virgin Galactic

Dave Mistich

The rocket plane carrying Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and other crew members takes off from Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences, N.M. Sunday, July 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton) Andres Leighton/AP hide caption

The rocket plane carrying Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and other crew members takes off from Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences, N.M. Sunday, July 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

Richard Branson and a crew of three others grazed the edge of space on Sunday in a rocket built by the British billionaire's company, Virgin Galactic. The flight ushers in a new chapter in the world of aeronautics, with Virgin Galactic among a handful of ambitious and well-funded ventures racing to commercialize travel to space.

Lifting off from Spaceport America in Las Cruces, N.M., — a commercial space flight center about 180 miles south of Albuquerque —Branson was among a crew of four "mission specialists" who reached speeds three times the speed of sound.

The spacecraft, which was attached to a larger plane, taxied across a runway at Spaceport America before lifting off at about 8:40 a.m. local time.

As the mothership — manned by two pilots — approached more than 46,000 feet above Earth's surface, Virgin Galactic live streamed a video of vignettes about the vessel, interviews with NASA astronauts and other material hosted by late night comedian Stephen Colbert.

The ascent to the launch — where the mothership released the Galactic Unity 22 — lasted nearly 50 minutes. Once detached, an on-board rocket was engaged, shooting Galactic Unity 22 to a peak altitude of more than 282,000 feet.

While communications to the vessel were limited, Branson could be heard saying it was an "experience of a lifetime" and described looking down on the Spaceport as "beautiful."

He congratulated those involved in the project, including his crew.

Joining him on the Galactic Unity 22 were three employees from Virgin Galactic — Beth Moses, the chief astronaut instructor; Colin Bennett, lead operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs and research operations.

Branson and the three others on the craft were weightless for a few moments before the Galactic Unity 22 made its descent.

Branson said the trip was a lifelong dream

Branson told NPR's Morning Edition this past week that he'd yearned for such a trip since he was a child.

"I was a kid once, standing with my dad and my sister, looking up at the moon, being told that Buzz and Neil were standing on it," Branson said , referring to the famous Apollo 11 astronauts . "And I just thought, I've got to go to space one day."

Sunday's launch was pushed back about 90 minutes from its original start time because weather conditions overnight resulted in a delay of the spacecraft leaving its hangar. But as the sun rose, conditions at the launch site looked favorable for the flight.

First registering the name Virgin Galactic in 2004, Branson's effort to launch into space has demanded the work of hundreds of engineers and millions of dollars. Once believing it might take six or seven years to achieve the goal of going to space, it's taken more than twice that long for Branson's company, which endured a fatal test flight in 2014.

Billionaires like Branson are setting their sights on space

Branson — whose 71st birthday is a week from Sunday — is one in a trio of billionaire businessmen who've launched commercial space flight ventures..

Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post , is set to take his company Blue Origin to space on July 20. In June, Bezos auctioned off the first seat on the company's New Shepard spacecraft for $28 million.

Elon Musk, the CEO and chief engineer of Space X, has also been in pursuit of creating commercial space flight opportunities.

While competition between the three men has been the focal point in recent months, Branson and Musk appeared to be in a celebratory mood Sunday before the Virgin Galactic flight.

"Big day ahead. Great to start the morning with a friend. Feeling good, feeling excited, feeling ready," Branson tweeted in the morning, posting a photo of himself with Musk.

After a series of exchanges on the social media platform, Musk tweeted back, "Godspeed!"

Virgin Galactic's current flagship, SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity, has a maximum capacity of eight people, including two pilots and six passengers.

The company aims to begin launching customers in 2022, with tickets selling for $250,000 apiece. More than 600 people have already purchased tickets for the near-space joyride.

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Branson Completes Virgin Galactic Flight, Aiming to Open Up Space Tourism

The successful trip was the first in a series to the edge of space and beyond by billionaire entrepreneurs that seek to make human spaceflight more routine.

Richard Branson Launches Into Space on Virgin Galactic Flight

The 70-year-old british billionaire and crew members of virgin galactic launched the commercial space plane unity from new mexico, reached the edge of space and landed safely back at the spaceport on sunday..

[crowd cheers] We are armed for release. Twenty seconds. Five, three, two, one. Release, release, release. Clean release. Ignition. Good rocket motor burn. There’s Mach 1 trimming now. Trim complete. Unity is pointed directly up. And that is a full duration burn, folks. We are headed to space. “To all you kids down there, I was once a child with a dream, looking up to the stars. Now, I’m an adult in a spaceship, with lots of other wonderful adults looking down to our beautiful, beautiful Earth. To the next generation of dreamers, if we can do this, just imagine what you can do. Aye!” ”Whew! Come on out, Richard.” They just had the ride of their lives. We are so excited for them to land and party the rest of the day like astronauts. All right, we have three landing gear down and locked. Over the threshold. Main gear touchdown. Can see Sir already celebrating inside there. Nose gear touchdown.

By Kenneth Chang

SPACEPORT AMERICA, N.M. — Soaring more than 50 miles into the hot, glaringly bright skies above New Mexico, Richard Branson at last fulfilled a dream that took decades to realize: He can now call himself an astronaut.

On Sunday morning, a small rocket plane operated by Virgin Galactic, which Mr. Branson founded in 2004, carried him and five other people to the edge of space and back.

More than an hour later, Mr. Branson took the stage to celebrate. “The whole thing was magical,” he said.

Later, during a news conference, Mr. Branson was still giddy, saying “I don’t know what’s going to come out of my mouth because I feel I’m still in space.”

Mr. Branson’s flight reinforces the hopes of space enthusiasts that routine travel to the final frontier may soon be available to private citizens, not just the professional astronauts of NASA and other space agencies. Another billionaire with his own rocket company — Jeff Bezos , the founder of Amazon — has plans to make a similar jaunt to the edge of space in nine days.

In each case, billionaire entrepreneurs are risking injury or death to fulfill their childhood aspirations — and advance the goal of making human spaceflight unexceptional.

“They’re putting their money where their mouth is, and they’re putting their body where their money is,” said Eric Anderson, chairman of Space Adventures Limited, a company that charters launches to orbit. “That’s impressive, frankly.”

At 8:40 a.m. Mountain time, a carrier aircraft, with the rocket plane, named V.S.S. Unity, tucked underneath, rose off the runway and headed to an altitude of about 45,000 feet. There, Unity was released, and a few moments later, its rocket motor ignited, accelerating the space plane on an upward arc.

Although Unity had made three previous trips to space, this was its first launch that resembled a full commercial flight of the sort that Virgin Galactic has promised to offer the general public, with two pilots — David Mackay and Michael Masucci — and four more crew members including Mr. Branson.

This flight resembled a party for Virgin Galactic and the nascent space tourism business. Guests included Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX; Michelle Lujan Grisham, the governor of New Mexico; and about 60 customers who have paid for future Virgin Galactic flights.

Stephen Colbert of the CBS program “The Late Show” introduced segments of the webcast. After the landing, the R&B singer Khalid performed a new song.

When the fuel was spent, Unity continued to coast upward to an altitude of 53.5 miles. The four people in back unbuckled and experienced about four minutes of floating before returning to their seats.

Mr. Branson was accompanied in the cabin by Beth Moses, the company’s chief astronaut instructor; Colin Bennett, lead operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs and research operations.

Mr. Bennett said that he was busy with tasks during the first part of the flight and then he heard Ms. Moses shouting, “Don’t forget to look out the window.”

He did. “It’s very Zen,” Mr. Bennett said of the view of Earth below. “What jumped out at me were the colors and just how far away it looked. It felt like we were just so far up there, and I was just mesmerized.”

Ms. Bandla’s role was to evaluate another market Virgin Galactic is targeting: scientists doing research that takes advantage of minutes of microgravity. She conducted an experiment from the University of Florida which looked at how plants react to the changing conditions — particularly the swings in gravity — during the flight, part of research that could aid growing food on future long-duration space missions.

As the space plane re-entered the atmosphere, the downward pull of gravity resumed. Unity glided to a landing back at the spaceport.

Michael Moses, president of Virgin Galactic, said the flight appeared to go flawlessly. “The ship looks pristine, no issues whatsoever,” Mr. Moses said.

For well over a decade, Mr. Branson, the irreverent 70-year-old British billionaire who runs a galaxy of Virgin companies, has repeatedly said he believed that commercial flights would soon begin. So did the 600 or so customers of Virgin Galactic who have paid $200,000 or more for their tickets to space and are still waiting. So did the taxpayers of New Mexico who paid $220 million to build Spaceport America, a futuristic vision in the middle of the desert, in order to attract Mr. Branson’s company.

After years and years of unmet promises, Virgin Galactic may begin flying the first paying passengers next year after two more test flights. But with tickets costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, this experience will, for now, remain out of financial reach for most people.

Founding a space exploration company was perhaps an unsurprising step for Mr. Branson, who has made a career — and a fortune estimated at $6 billion — building flashy upstart businesses that he promotes with a showman’s flair.

What became his Virgin business empire began with a small record shop in central London in the 1970s before Mr. Branson parlayed it into Virgin Records, the home of acts like the Sex Pistols, Peter Gabriel and more. In 1984, he was a co-founder of what became Virgin Atlantic.

The Virgin Group branched out into a mobile-phone service, a passenger railway and a line of hotels. Not all have performed flawlessly. Two of his airlines filed for insolvency during the pandemic last year, while few today remember his ventures into soft drinks , cosmetics or lingerie .

The spaceflight company was of a piece with Mr. Branson’s penchant for highflying pursuits like skydiving and hot-air ballooning.

Virgin Galactic joined the New York Stock Exchange in 2019 after merging with a publicly traded investment fund, giving it a potent source of new funds to compete with deep-pocket competitors — and publicity, with Mr. Branson marking its trading debut at the exchange in one of the company’s flight suits.

The Virgin Group retains a 24 percent stake in Virgin Galactic.

Virgin Galactic’s space plane is a scaled-up version of SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 captured the $10 million Ansari X Prize as the first reusable crewed spacecraft built by a nongovernmental organization to make it to space twice in two weeks.

Mr. Branson initially predicted commercial flights would begin by 2007. But development of the larger craft, SpaceShipTwo, stretched out.

The first SpaceShipTwo vehicle, V.S.S. Enterprise, crashed during a test flight in 2014, killing one of the pilots . Virgin Galactic was then grounded until Unity was completed a year and a half later.

In 2019, Virgin Galactic came close to another catastrophe when a seal on a rear horizontal stabilizer ruptured because a new thermal protection film had been improperly installed.

The mishap was revealed this year in the book “Test Gods: Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut” by Nicholas Schmidle, a staff writer at The New Yorker. The book quotes Todd Ericson, then the vice president for safety and test at Virgin Galactic, saying, “I don’t know how we didn’t lose the vehicle and kill three people.”

Mr. Bezos’ flight is to take place about 200 miles to the southeast of Spaceport America in Van Horn, Texas, where his rocket company, Blue Origin, launches its New Shepard rocket and capsule.

Although Blue Origin has yet to fly any people on New Shepard, 15 successful uncrewed tests of the fully automated system convinced the company it would be safe to put Mr. Bezos on the first flight with people aboard.

He will be joined by his brother, Mark, and Mary Wallace Funk , an 82-year-old pilot. In the 1960s, she was among a group of women who passed the same rigorous criteria that NASA used for selecting astronauts, but the space agency at the time had no interest in selecting women as astronauts. A fourth unnamed passenger paid $28 million in an auction for one of the seats .

Neither Blue Origin nor Virgin Galactic flights go high enough or fast enough to enter orbit around Earth. Rather, these suborbital flights are more like giant roller coaster rides that allow passengers to float for a few minutes while admiring a view of Earth against the black backdrop of space.

Mr. Bezos’ company emphasized the rivalry with Virgin Galactic for space tourism passengers in a tweet on Friday . Blue Origin highlighted differences between its New Shepard rocket and Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo including the fact that New Shepard flies higher, above the altitude of 100 kilometers, or about 62 miles, that is often regarded as the boundary of space. However, the United States Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration set the boundary at 50 miles.

The company also noted the size of the New Shepard capsule’s windows, and called Virgin Galactic’s Unity “a high-altitude plane” in contrast to New Shepard’s rocket.

Mr. Bezos on Sunday congratulated Mr. Branson and his fellow crew on their flight. “Can’t wait to join the club!” he said in an Instagram post .

At the news conference, Mr. Branson said, “It really wasn’t a race.” He added, “We wish Jeff the absolute best.”

Blue Origin has not yet announced a ticket price, and Virgin Galactic’s earlier quoted fare of $250,000 will probably rise. But on Sunday after his trip, Mr. Branson announced a sweepstakes that will give away two seats on a future Virgin Galactic flight .

Virgin Galactic is planning two more tests flight to conduct including one where scientists from the Italian Air Force will undertake science experiments before commencing commercial service.

The era of nonprofessional astronauts regularly heading to orbit may also begin in the coming year. Jared Isaacman , a 38-year-old billionaire, is essentially chartering a rocket and spacecraft from SpaceX for a three-day trip to orbit that is scheduled for September.

In December, Space Adventures has arranged for a Japanese fashion entrepreneur, Yusaku Maezawa , and Yozo Hirano, a production assistant, to launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket on a 12-day mission that will go to the International Space Station.

Another company, Axiom Space in Houston, is arranging a separate trip to the space station that will launch as soon as January.

The orbital trips are too expensive for anyone except the superwealthy — Axiom’s three customers are paying $55 million each — while suborbital flights might be affordable to those who are merely well off.

But how many people are willing to spend as much as some houses cost for a few minutes of space travel?

Carissa Christensen, founder and chief executive of Bryce Space and Technology, an aerospace consulting firm, thinks there will be plenty. “Based on previous ticket sales, surveys and interviews,” she said in an email, “we see strong demand signals for multiple hundreds of passengers a year at current prices, with potential for thousands if prices drop significantly.”

Mr. Anderson of Space Adventures is less certain.

Two decades ago, his company did sell suborbital flights including a ticket to Ms. Funk, who goes by Wally. “ Wally Funk was one of our first customers,” Mr. Anderson said. “That would have been like 1998.”

The ticket price then was $98,000.

At one point, about 200 people signed up, but none of the suborbital rocket companies were able to get their promised spacecraft close to flight. Space Adventures returned the money to Ms. Funk and the others.

Now this unproven suborbital market has whittled down to a battle of billionaires — Mr. Branson and Mr. Bezos.

“If anybody can make money and make the market work for suborbital, it’s Branson and Bezos,” Mr. Anderson said. “They have the reach and the cachet.”

Michael J. de la Merced and Neil Vigdor contributed reporting.

Kenneth Chang has been at The Times since 2000, writing about physics, geology, chemistry, and the planets. Before becoming a science writer, he was a graduate student whose research involved the control of chaos. More about Kenneth Chang

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Billionaire Branson will experience five minutes of weightlessness before gravity reclaims him, like the rest of us

British business mogul Richard Branson is going to the edge of space with three other people. If the flight goes as planned, Branson will be the first billionaire to reach space on his own commercial vehicle, pipping rival Jeff Bezos by a little more than a week.

Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which is aiming to develop space tourism, will carry its founder on what will be the 22nd flight test for the company’s spaceplane VSS Unity. It will also be the first time the spaceplane will carry a full crew of two pilots and four mission specialists (one of whom is Branson).

VSS Unity will take flight from Virgin Atlantic’s base at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Virgin Atlantic will stream the flight on YouTube, starting at 9am ET.

What will Branson do on Sunday?

He will fly to space for an up-and-down test flight on VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic’s sub-orbital rocket-powered space plane . He will fly with two pilots, Dave MacKay and Michael Masucci, and three other passengers, Virgin’s chief astronaut instructor, Beth Moses, operations engineer, Colin Bennett, and Sirisha Bandla, Virgin’s vice-president for government affairs and research operations.

How will he fly?

The VSS Unity will take off from Virgin Galactic’s facilities on a mothership plane called VMS Eve. The mothership will carry and then drop VSS Unity at about 10 miles above sea level. The space plane will then immediately fire its rocket engines, tilt upwards and accelerate to three times the speed of sound to reach the edge of space.

There the spacecraft will drift in space as the pilots shut off the engine. The passengers will be able to see the Earth below through the plane’s windows. They will stay in this weightless state for a few minutes before the gravity of Earth begins to pull them down.

The VSS Unity will then rotate its wings and tail booms upwards. The plane then will plunge back to the Earth. At 10 miles above sea level, the wings will rotate back in place and glide to a runway landing.

Is it really going into space?

VSS Unity will reach 55 miles above sea level, which the United States air force and Nasa consider is past the boundary of outer space. But there is some dispute over where outer space begins.

How long will the space plane be up there?

The trip will last in total about two and a half hours. However, Branson and his team will only be weightless in space for four to five minutes before the craft tilts and returns to Earth.

How does this flight compare with Jeff Bezos’s planned flight?

While Branson will be flying on a spaceplane, Bezos will be taking a rocket to space. Blue Origin, Bezos’s space company, will be launching a booster rocket named New Shepard. When it reaches its highest arc, the capsule on the rocket will detach, giving passengers four minutes of weightlessness. New Shepard will reach a height of 65 miles, higher than Branson and above the Karman Line, which is seen as the boundary of space by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , an international standard-setting body for aeronautics and astronautics .

The capsule will then fall back into the atmosphere as parachutes are deployed to slowly bring it down. The whole trip will only take 11 minutes. New Shepard will also be the first time Blue Origin sends humans into space. Virgin Galactic has already successfully sent pilots on three space flights.

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Virgin Galactic is the world’s first commercial spaceline, and our purpose is to connect people across the globe to the love, wonder and awe created by space travel. We believe that spaceflight has the unique ability to shift our perspectives, our technology, and even our trajectory as a species. As the spaceline for Earth, we aim to transform access to space for the benefit of humankind; to reveal the wonder of space to more people than ever before. Join us, and help pioneer this exciting new space age for humanity.

We’re comprised of hundreds of dedicated and passionate professionals all working towards the same mission – to be the Spaceline for Earth. We believe we can inspire future generations and make it possible to experience our planet from a different perspective.

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We recognise that the answers to many of the challenges we face in sustaining life on our beautiful, but fragile, planet lie in making better use of space. That’s why we seek to inspire young people through space-inspired Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives. Galactic Unite is an outreach initiative that’s come from a unique collaboration between the Future Astronaut community and Virgin’s non-profit foundation, Virgin Unite. Together we seek to drive a positive change for young people by channelling our collective energy and resources – working to ensure that future generations are equipped to apply the space perspective to earth’s greatest challenges.

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‘galactic 07’ mission launch window opens june 8.

Flight Will Mark Virgin Galactic’s Seventh Commercial Mission, Seventh Research Mission

Multiple Research Experiments to Include Axiom Space and University Payloads

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif.--(May 1, 2024) -- Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) today announced the ‘Galactic 07’ flight window will open Saturday, June 8, 2024. This will be the Company’s second spaceflight this year and twelfth to date.

Virgin Galactic’s spaceship will again be converted into a suborbital science lab, with VSS Unity carrying an Axiom Space affiliated researcher astronaut who will conduct multiple human-tended experiments. In addition, Purdue University and UC Berkeley will have autonomous payloads on board, supported by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program. This mission showcases Virgin Galactic’s ability to provide a flexible microgravity research platform, benefiting further space exploration initiatives as well as innovations on Earth.

The hybrid research and private astronaut crew of ‘Galactic 07’ will include:

Astronaut 027 – Research Astronaut, Axiom Space (research and astronaut to be announced in coming weeks)

Astronaut 028 – Private Astronaut, California, USA

Astronaut 029 – Private Astronaut, New York, USA

Astronaut 030 – Private Astronaut, Italy

The Virgin Galactic crew will include:

VSS Unity Commander Nicola Pecile and pilot Jameel Janjua

VMS Eve Commander Andy Edgell and pilot C.J. Sturckow

The ‘Galactic 07’ autonomous rack-mounted research payloads will include a Purdue University experiment designed to study propellant slosh in fuel tanks of maneuvering spacecraft, as well as a UC Berkeley payload testing a new type of 3D printing. Virgin Galactic has flown payloads for NASA’s Flight Opportunities program since the Company’s first spaceflight in 2018 and was recently selected by NASA as a contracted flight provider for the next five years.

Galactic 07 will also include research and participation from Virgin Galactic partner Axiom Space.

Today’s announcement follows notification from the FAA that Virgin Galactic’s investigation into the cause of the alignment pin that detached from VMS Eve following the release of VSS Unity during the ‘Galactic 06’ mission on January 26, 2024 is approved. The FAA has accepted Virgin Galactic's final investigation report, as well as the corrective actions that have been made to enhance the retention mechanism of the pin and the addition of a secondary retention mechanism.

Stay tuned to Virgin Galactic’s social channels for further updates.

“Discovery and innovation are central to our mission at Virgin Galactic. We’re excited to build on our successful record of facilitating scientific experiments in suborbital space, and we look forward to continuing to expand our role in suborbital research going forward. ‘Galactic 07’ will also mark and celebrate VSS Unity's final commercial flight – an exciting and historic turning point for the business as we dedicate our resources fully to the production of our next-generation Delta spaceships, on track for commercial service in 2026.”

“Axiom Space’s commitment to enabling access to space and providing opportunities for scientific discovery beyond Earth aligns closely with Virgin Galactic’s mission. We are very excited about this upcoming ‘Galactic 07’ flight; stay tuned for more on our groundbreaking research and astronaut participant as we get closer to June 8.”

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About Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic is an aerospace and space travel company, pioneering human spaceflight for private individuals and researchers with its advanced air and space vehicles. Scale and profitability are driven by next generation vehicles designed to be capable of bringing humans to space at an unprecedented frequency with an industry-leading cost structure. You can find more information at https://www.virgingalactic.com/ .

You can download all press materials from, https://press.virgingalactic.com/

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding our spaceflight systems, expected flight schedule and window, expected astronauts and inflight activities and experiments, our role in future space research, commencement of commercial service of our Delta fleet and timing thereof, the expectation that ‘Galactic 07’ is VSS Unity’s final flight, and our status as a contracted flight provider for NASA are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “potential,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “strategy,” “future,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “target,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking statements, including but not limited to any delay in future commercial flights of our spaceflight fleet, our ability to successfully develop and test our Delta fleet, and the time and costs associated with doing so, and the factors, risks and uncertainties included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of our website at www.virgingalactic.com, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.

Virgin Galactic Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results and Provides Business Update

Virgin Galactic to launch 7th commercial spaceflight on June 8

The company has not yet identified the crewmembers of its Galactic 07 mission.

Virgin Galactic will fly again next month, if all goes according to plan.

The company announced on Wednesday (May 1) that it's targeting June 8 for its seventh commercial spaceflight, a suborbital jaunt called, fittingly enough, Galactic 07.

It will be Virgin Galactic 's second spaceflight of the year, after the Galactic 06 mission on Jan. 26, and its 12th overall to date.

Related: Virgin Galactic launches researchers to suborbital space on 5th commercial flight (video)

Virgin Galactic uses an air-launch system that consists of two vehicles: A carrier aircraft called VMS Eve and a suborbital spaceliner known as VSS Unity. 

Eve lifts off from a runway with Unity beneath its wings, then drops the spacecraft at an altitude of about 45,000 feet (13,700 meters). Unity then fires up its onboard rocket motor, blasting its way to suborbital space. 

Passengers aboard the space plane experience a few minutes of weightlessness and get to see Earth against the blackness of space. A ticket to ride on Unity currently sells for $450,000.

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Galactic 07 will depart from Spaceport America in southwestern New Mexico, carrying four passengers in Unity's cabin. Virgin Galactic has not yet identified these people, but the company has given us a bit of information about them.

Three are private astronauts, one apiece from New York, California and Italy. The fourth is "an Axiom Space-affiliated researcher astronaut who will conduct multiple human-tended experiments," Virgin Galactic wrote Wednesday in a Galactic 07 mission update .

Axiom Space is a Houston-based company that has organized three crewed trips to the International Space Station to date, all of them using SpaceX hardware. Axiom also plans to assemble and operate its own space station in Earth orbit later in the 2020s. 

 —   Virgin Galactic launches 3 of its original space tourist customers to the final frontier (video)

— Who is Virgin Galactic and what do they do?

 —   How Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo passenger space plane works (infographic)

During the Galactic 06 mission in January, an alignment pin that helps secure Unity to Eve detached unexpectedly from the carrier craft. This happened after Unity had separated and begun flying freely and did not endanger anyone involved in the flight, according to Virgin Galactic. 

Nevertheless, the company conducted an investigation along with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). That work is now done, and steps have been taken to ensure the issue doesn't crop up on Galactic 07 or other future flights, according to Virgin Galactic. 

"The FAA has accepted Virgin Galactic's final investigation report, as well as the corrective actions that have been made to enhance the retention mechanism of the pin and the addition of a secondary retention mechanism," the company wrote in Wednesday's update.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with  Space.com  and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

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Virgin Galactic begins ground testing of Delta spaceship subsystems

V irgin Galactic ( NYSE: SPCE ) has begun operations at the new ground-based test facility for its Delta Class spaceships, which are expected to enter commercial service in 2026.

The new system integration facility in Southern California features a testing platform known as an “Iron Bird,” which will enable the space travel company to test and verify the operation of dozens of Delta subsystems. The facility will add components over the course of the year to increase its scope and effectiveness.

The Iron Bird test rig is just one ground testing method used in the development of the Delta spaceship. A static test article will stress major structural components to verify structural integrity data and determine the design and ultimate limit loads of the structure.

Virgin Galactic Spaceline President Mike Moses. “The team has hit the ground running – with important testing already underway, supporting our ability to execute key Delta production milestones. The test data we’re gathering at this important stage of development will further refine testing and streamline manufacturing and validation over the course of the Delta program.”

The Delta Class spaceships are being built to be capable of flying eight space missions per month, with twelve times the monthly capacity of Virgin’s ( SPCE ) original spaceship, VSS Unity.

Final assembly of the Delta ships will take place at Virgin Galactic’s new Delta facility in Phoenix, Arizona.

Shares of the aerospace firm rose 2.32% premarket on Monday

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