News Archive / Tagged: SpaceShipTwo

• Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity completes first commercial spaceflight

  Derek RichardsonJune 29th, 2023

  Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo has flown with paying passengers for the first time on its inaugural commercial suborbital spaceflight.

• FAA grounds Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo after ‘mishap’ report

  Theresa CrossSeptember 6th, 2021

  Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo program after a “mishap” occurred on the company's last crewed flight into space.

• Richard Branson rides Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo into space

  Theresa CrossJuly 11th, 2021

  Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft took its first full crew, which included the company's billionaire founder Richard Branson, on a brief foray into space.

• Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo reaches space from New Mexico

  Theresa CrossMay 24th, 2021

  On May 22, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completed its third crewed test flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The first-ever spaceflight from New Mexico for the company also represents the third state to date launching humans to space.

• Virgin Galactic unveils its first ‘SpaceShip III’ suborbital spacecraft

  Matt HaskellApril 5th, 2021

  Last week, Virgin Galactic, the space tourism firm owned by Richard Branson, revealed its newest design, SpaceShip III, with the first vehicle in this line dubbed “VSS Imagine.”

• SpaceShipTwo flies to space with 1st ‘test’ passenger

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 22nd, 2019

  Three new people are set to get their astronaut wings as Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo performed a second flight into space on a suborbital trajectory.

• Virgin Galactic has two freshly-minted astronauts

  Jason RhianFebruary 11th, 2019

  The private space industry chalked up yet another win with the announcement that a recent SpaceShipTwo test flight earned two pilots their astronaut wings.

• SpaceX not alone in 2018’s high launch rate

  Patrick AttwellJanuary 7th, 2019

  United Launch Alliance (ULA), Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab and Virgin Galactic conducted 14 launches from the United States this past year.

• Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity makes second powered flight

  Joe LatrellMay 29th, 2018

  Within less than two months, The SpaceShip Company has conducted a second test flight of the VSS Unity. This signals an increase in testing as the NewSpace company prepares for its first commercial flights.

• SpaceShipTwo conducts successful test flight

  Paul KnightlyJanuary 13th, 2018

  Virgin Galactic conducted a successful test flight of the SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity vehicle on Thursday, Jan. 11. The high-speed glide test marks the seventh for VSS Unity, which reached a top speed of Mach 0.9 during the flight.

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: SpaceShipOne, Government Zero – 13 years later

  Jason RhianJune 21st, 2017

  It was a heady time for the emerging NewSpace movement, Scaled Composites had sent Mike Melvill in SpaceShipOne on flight 15P up 62 miles into space. This set the stage for them to win the Ansari X-PRIZE and from there send the first tourists on suborbital hops. Or, so they hoped. Thirteen years later, the follow-on vehicle, SpaceShipTwo, has yet to send a single tourist to sub-orbit.

• Virgin Galactic VSS Unity passes feather test

  Bart LeahyMay 2nd, 2017

  After successfully completing three glide-and-land tests at Mojave Air and Spaceport, Virgin Galactic conducted its first test of the “feather” mechanism on its second SpaceShipTwo (SS2) suborbital tourism spacecraft.

• Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo successfully completes first glide flight

  Curt GodwinDecember 4th, 2016

  Fresh off the completion of its successful captive carry flight just a few days prior, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (SS2), christened VSS Unity, took the next step in its flight certification regime by completing its first solo glide flight on Dec. 3, 2016.

• Virgin Galactic conducts captive carry flight of SpaceShipTwo

  Jim SharkeyDecember 1st, 2016

  On Wednesday, Nov. 30, Virgin Galactic conducted the fourth test flight of its SpaceShipTwo rocket plane VSS Unity. The carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve, took off with VSS Unity from the runway of Mojave Air and Spaceport at 2:07 p.m. PST (22:07 GMT).

• Video: The first captive carry test of VSS Unity

  Derek RichardsonSeptember 23rd, 2016

  Virgin Galactic recently released a video discussing the path traveled in getting VSS Unity ready for flight testing. This video, titled "Elevating Unity – Episode 1: Captive Carry", showcases The Spaceship Company and Virgin Galactic preparing for and conducting the first captive carry test the vehicle.