.svg){kind=logo} | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 2004; 21 years ago (2004) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating bases | |||||||
| Fleet size |  1 (mothership vehicle) (2024) | ||||||
| Destinations | 1 (Space) | ||||||
| Traded as |
| ||||||
| Headquarters | Tustin, California, U.S | ||||||
| Key people | Michael Colglazier (CEO) Doug Ahrens (CFO) Mike Moses (President – Safety) | ||||||
| Founder | Richard Branson | ||||||
| Revenue | US$2.31 million (2022) | ||||||
| Operating income | US$−500 million (2022) | ||||||
| Net income | US$−500 million (2022) | ||||||
| Total assets |  US$1.14 billion (2022) | ||||||
| Total equity | US$480 million (2022) | ||||||
| Employees | 1,166 (2022) | ||||||
| Website | virgingalactic.com | ||||||
| Notes | |||||||
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-Americanspaceflight company founded byRichard Branson and theVirgin Group conglomerate, which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited.[2]
The company is inCalifornia, and operates fromNew Mexico. The company developscommercial spacecraft and providessuborbital spaceflights tospace tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft areair launched from beneath a carrier airplane known asWhite Knight Two. Virgin Galactic's maiden spaceflight occurred in 2018 with itsVSSUnity spaceship.[3]
The company did the early work on the satellite launch development ofLauncherOne before this washived off to a separate company,Virgin Orbit, in 2017. The company was shut down in May 2023.
On 13 December 2018, VSSUnity achieved the project's first suborbital space flight,VSSUnity VP-03, with two pilots, reaching an altitude of 82.7 kilometres (51.4 mi), and officially enteringouter space by U.S. standards.[4] In February 2019, the project carried three people, including a passenger, onVSSUnity VF-01, with a member of the team floating within the cabin during a spaceflight that reached 89.9 kilometres (55.9 mi). On 11 July 2021, founder Richard Branson and three other employees rode on VSSUnity 22 as passengers, marking the first time a spaceflight company founder has travelled on his own ship into outer space.[5] In February 2022, Virgin Galactic announced that it was opening ticket sales to the public.[6] The price of a reservation was $450,000.[7] In June 2023, Virgin Galactic launched its first commercial space tourism flight calledGalactic 01.[8][9]Galactic 07 in June 2024 was the final flight ofUnity as the company shifted focus to its Delta class vehicles and a higher launch cadence.[10]
In February 2025, a ticket for a seat is estimated to cost about $600,000.[11]
Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 by Britishentrepreneur SirRichard Branson, who had previously founded theVirgin Group and theVirgin Atlantic airline, and who had a long personal history ofballoon and surface record-breaking activities.
The Spaceship Company (TSC) was founded by Richard Branson through Virgin Group (which owned 70%) andBurt Rutan throughScaled Composites (which owned 30%) to build commercial spaceships and launch aircraft for space travel. From the time of TSC's formation in 2005, the launch customer was Virgin Galactic, which contracted to purchase five SpaceShipTwos and two WhiteKnightTwos.[12] Scaled Composites was contracted to develop and build the initial prototypes of WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo, and then TSC began production of the follow-on vehicles beginning in 2008.[13][14] In 2012, afterNorthrop Grumman acquired Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic acquired the remaining 30% of The Spaceship Company.[15]
After a claimed investment byVirgin Group ofUS$100 million,[16] in 2010 thesovereign wealth fund ofAbu Dhabi,Aabar Investments group, acquired a 31.8% stake in Virgin Galactic forUS$280 million, receiving exclusive regional rights to launch tourism and scientific research space flights from theUnited Arab Emirates capital.[16] In July 2011, Aabar invested a furtherUS$110 million to develop a program to launchsmall satellites intolow Earth orbit, raising their equity share to 37.8%.[17] The New Mexico government has invested approximately $200m (£121m) in the Spaceport America facility, for which Virgin Galactic is the anchor tenant; other commercial space companies also use the site.
On Monday, October 28, 2019, Virgin Galactic listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker symbol 'SPCE', the first publicly traded space tourism company. The company raised $450 million through a SPAC merger listing, and the company's market value after listing was more than $2.4 billion. At the time, the company claimed to have over 600 customer reservations representing approximately $80 million in total collected deposits and more than $120 million in "potential revenue".[18]
The Ansari X Prize was aspace competition in which theX Prize Foundation offered aUS$10,000,000prize for the firstnon-government organization to launch a reusablecrewed spacecraft intospace twice within two weeks. It was modeled after early 20th-centuryaviation prizes, and aimed to spur development of low-cost spaceflight.[19]
Created in May 1996 and initially called just the "X Prize", it was renamed the "Ansari X Prize" on 6 May 2004 following a multimillion-dollardonation fromentrepreneursAnousheh Ansari andAmir Ansari.
The prize was won on 4 October 2004, the 47th anniversary of theSputnik 1 launch, by theTier One project designed byBurt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founderPaul Allen, using the experimentalspaceplaneSpaceShipOne. $10 million was awarded to the winner, and more than $100 million was invested in new technologies in pursuit of the prize.[19]
The spacecraft initially calledSpaceShipTwo was planned to achieve asuborbital journey with a short period of weightlessness. Carried to about 16 kilometers, or 52,000 ft, underneath a carrier aircraft,White Knight Two, after separation the vehicle was to continue to over 100 km (theKármán line, a common definition of where "space" begins). The time from liftoff of the White Knight Two mothership carrying SpaceShipTwo until the touchdown of the spacecraft after the suborbital flight would be about 2.5 hours. The suborbital flight itself would be only a small fraction of that time, with weightlessness lasting approximately 6 minutes.[20] Passengers were to be able to release themselves from their seats during these six minutes and float around the cabin.
In July 2007, three Scaled Composites employees were killed and three critically injured at the Mojave spaceport while testing components of the rocket motor forSpaceShipTwo. An explosion occurred during a cold fire test, which involved nitrous oxide flowing through fuel injectors. The procedure had been expected to be safe.[21]
Just a year later, in July 2008,Richard Branson predicted the maiden space voyage would take place within 18 months.[22] In October 2009, Virgin Galactic announced that initial flights would take place fromSpaceport America "within two years."[23] Later that year, Scaled Composites announced that White Knight Two's first SpaceShipTwo captive flights would be in early 2010.[24]Both aircraft did fly together in March 2010.[25] The credibility of the earlier promises of launch dates by Virgin Galactic were brought into question in October 2014 by its chief executive,George T. Whitesides, when he toldThe Guardian: "We've changed dramatically as a company. When I joined in 2010 we were mostly a marketing organisation. Right now we can design, build, test, and fly a rocket motor all by ourselves and all in Mojave, which I don't think is done anywhere else on the planet".[26]
On 7 December 2009, SpaceShipTwo was unveiled at theMojave Spaceport.[27] Branson told the 300 people attending, each of whom had booked rides at $200,000 each, that flights would begin "in 2011." However, in April 2011, Branson announced further delays, saying "I hope 18 months from now, we'll be sitting in our spaceship and heading off into space."[28] By February 2012, SpaceShipTwo had completed 15 test flights attached to White Knight Two and an additional 16 glide tests, the last of which took place in September 2011.[29] A rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo took place on 29 April 2013, with an engine burn of 16 seconds duration. The brief flight began at an altitude of 47,000 feet and reached a maximum altitude of 55,000 feet. While the SS2 achieved a speed of Mach 1.2 (920 mph),[30] this was less than half the 2,000 mph speed predicted by Richard Branson. SpaceShipTwo's second supersonic flight achieved a speed of 1,100 mph for 20 seconds; while this was an improvement, it fell far short of the 2,500 mph for 70 seconds required to carry six passengers into space. However, Branson still announced his spaceship would be capable of "launching 100 satellites every day."[31]
In addition to the suborbital passenger business, Virgin Galactic intended to market SpaceShipTwo for suborbitalspace science missions and market White Knight Two for "small satellite" launch services. It had planned to initiateRFPs for the satellite business in early 2010, but flights had not materialized as of 2014.
On 14 May 2013, Richard Branson stated on Virgin Radio Dubai'sKris Fade Morning Show that he would be aboard the first public flight of SpaceShipTwo, which had again been rescheduled, this time to 25 December 2013.[32] "Maybe I'll dress up as Father Christmas", Branson said.[28] The third rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo took place on 10 January 2014 and successfully tested the spaceship's Reaction Control System (RCS) and the newly installed thermal protection coating on the vehicle's tail booms. Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said "We are progressively closer to our target of starting commercial service in 2014".[33] Interviewed byThe Observer at the time of her 90th birthday in July 2014, Branson's mother, Eve, told reporter Elizabeth Day of her intention of going to space herself. Asked when that might be, she replied: "I think it's the end of the year", adding after a pause, "It's always 'the end of the year' ".[34]
In February 2014, cracks in WhiteKnightTwo, where the spars connect with the fuselage, were discovered during an inspection conducted after Virgin Galactic took possession of the aircraft from builder Scaled Composites.[35]
In September 2014, Richard Branson described the intended date for the first commercial flight as February or March 2015; by the time of this announcement, a new plastic-based fuel had yet to be ignited in-flight.[36] By September 2014, the three test flights of the SS2 had only reached an altitude of around 71,000 ft, approximately 13 miles; in order to receive aFederal Aviation Administration license to carry passengers, the craft needs to complete test missions at full speed and62-mile height. Following the announcement of further delays, UK newspaperThe Sunday Times reported that Branson faced a backlash from those who had booked flights with Virgin Galactic, with the company having received $80 million in fares and deposits.[37]Tom Bower, author ofBranson: The Man behind the Mask, told theSunday Times: "They spent 10 years trying to perfect one engine and failed. They are now trying to use a different engine and get into space in six months. It's just not feasible."[38] BBC science editor David Shukman commented in October 2014, that "[Branson's] enthusiasm and determination [are] undoubted. But his most recent promises of launching the first passenger trip by the end of this year had already started to look unrealistic some months ago."[39]
At 10:51 PST 31 October 2014, the fourth rocket-powered test flight of the company's first SpaceShipTwo craft,VSSEnterprise, ended in disaster, as it broke apart in mid-air, with the debris falling into the Mojave desert in California, shortly after being released from the mothership. Initial reports attributed the loss to an unidentified "in-flight anomaly".[40][41] The flight was the first test of SpaceShipTwo with new plastic-based fuel, replacing the original—a rubber-based solid fuel that had not met expectations.[42] 39-year-old co-pilotMichael Alsbury was killed and 43-year-old pilotPeter Siebold was seriously injured.
Initial investigations found that the engine and propellant tanks were intact, showing that there had not been a fuel explosion.Telemetry data and cockpit video showed that instead, theair braking system appeared to have deployed incorrectly and too early, for unknown reasons, and that the craft had violently broken apart in mid-air seconds later.
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher Hart said on 2 November 2014 that investigators had determined SpaceShipTwo's tail system was supposed to have been released for deployment as the craft was traveling about 1.4 times the speed of sound; instead, the tail section began pivoting when the vehicle was flying at Mach 1. He noted that it was also unclear how the tail mechanism began to rotate once it was unlocked, since that maneuver requires a separate pilot command that was never given, and whether the craft's position in the air and its speed somehow enabled the tail section to swing free on its own.[43]
At a hearing in Washington D.C. on 28 July 2015,[44][45] and a press release on the same day[46] the NTSB cited inadequate design safeguards, poor pilot training, lack of rigorousFAA oversight and a potentially anxious co-pilot without recent flight experience as important factors in the 2014 crash. They determined that the co-pilot, who died in the accident, prematurely unlocked a movable tail section some ten seconds after SpaceShip Two fired its rocket engine and was breaking the sound barrier, resulting in the craft's breaking apart. But the Board also found that the Scaled Composites unit of Northrop Grumman, which designed and flew the prototype space tourism vehicle, did not properly prepare for potential human slip-ups by providing a fail-safe system that could have guarded against such premature deployment.
NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart emphasized that consideration of human factors, which was not emphasized in the design, safety assessment, and operation of SpaceShipTwo's feather system, was critical to safe human spaceflight to mitigate the potential consequences of human error.[46] In its submission to the NTSB, Virgin Galactic reported that the second SS2, at the time nearing completion, had been modified with an automatic mechanical inhibit device to prevent locking or unlocking of the feather during safety-critical phases. An explicit warning about the dangers of premature unlocking had also been added to the checklist and operating handbook, and a formalized crew resource management (CRM) approach, already used by Virgin for its WK2 operations, was being adopted for SS2. However, despite CRM issues being cited as a likely contributing cause, Virgin confirmed that it would not modify the cockpit display system.[47]
While Virgin had been pursuing the development of asmallsatlaunch vehicle since 2012, the company began in 2015 to make the smallsat launch business a larger part of Virgin's core business plan, as the Virgin human spaceflight program had experienced multiple delays.[48] This part of the business was spun off into a new company calledVirgin Orbit in 2017.[49]
Following the crash of VSSEnterprise, the replacement SpaceShipTwo namedVSSUnity was rolled out on 19 February 2016.[50][51] Test flights were set to begin after ground tests completed in August 2016.[52] VSSUnity completed its first flight (first free flight; captive carry flights had taken place since September 2016), a successful glide test, in December 2016. The glide lasted ten minutes.[53] By January 2018, seven glide tests had been completed,[54] and on 5 April 2018 it performed a powered test flight, the first since 2014.[55] By July 2018,Unity had gone considerably higher and faster in its testing program than had its predecessor.[56] On 13 December 2018, VSSUnity reached a height of 82.7 km (51.4 miles) above the Earth at speeds close to three times the speed of sound. The two pilots, Mark "Forger" Stucky and Frederick "CJ" Sturckow earnedcommercial astronaut wings from the US government for the accomplishment.[3][57] Another flight in February 2019 carried third crew member (1 in the passenger cabin) for the first time.[58]
After transfer toSpaceport America in New Mexico in February 2020, a couple of 15 km altitude test flights were carried out. Due to a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in New Mexico, Virgin Galactic had to postpone a key test flight of its spacecraft in November 2020,[59] and then in December 2020, a computer connection issue prevented engine ignition.[60] On 22 May 2021, VSSUnity flew its sixth powered test flight reaching an altitude of 89 km [55 mi].[61] This suborbital flight marked the first ever human space flight from New Mexico; it was piloted by CJ Sturkow (pilot-in-command) and Dave MacKay. The VSSUnity was carried to 44,000 feet by the jet powered launch aircraft MothershipEve, where it was released to reach its suborbital altitude over New Mexico.[62] A fully crewed test flight took place on 11 July 2021 with two pilots Dave Mackay andMichael Masucci and the four passengers were Richard Branson, Beth Moses, Colin Bennett andSirisha Bandla.[63] The flight was initially claimed to be successful but it was later revealedUnity briefly stepped outside the airspace that had been reserved for it and the FAA were not informed as required. TheFAA grounded Virgin Galactic's space planes before allowing a resumption of flights after some changes to procedures including reserving a larger volume of airspace.[64]
On 14 October 2021, Virgin Galactic announced that an upgrade program forUnity andEve would begin, delaying future commercial flights to mid 2022. This followed material analysis that required further analysis.[65][66]
The first Spaceship III,VSS Imagine, was rolled out on 30 March 2021 and it was indicated there is ground testing to do before glide test flights should commence not earlier than Summer 2021.[67]
 | This sectionmay lendundue weight to SpaceShipOne flights, which were not a development of nor operated by Virgin Galactic; nor of Richard Branson's predecessor company, The Spaceship Company. Please helpimprove it by rewriting it in abalanced fashion that contextualises different points of view.(January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
On 17 December 2003—on the 100th anniversary of theWright brothers first powered flight of anaircraft—SpaceShipOne, piloted byBrian Binnie onFlight 11P, made its firstrocket-powered flight and became the first privately built craft to achieve supersonic flight.[68]: 8
All of the flights of SpaceShipOne were from theMojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center. Flights were numbered, starting with flight 01 on May 20, 2003. One or two letters are appended to the number to indicate the type of mission. An appendedC indicates that the flight was a captive carry,G indicates an unpowered glide, andP indicates a powered flight. If the actual flight differs in category from the intended flight, two letters are appended: the first indicating the intended mission and the second the mission actually performed.
| Flight | Date | Top speed | Altitude | Duration | Pilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01C | May 20, 2003 | 14.63 km[69] | 1 h 48 min | uncrewed | |
| 02C | July 29, 2003 | 14 km | 2 h 06 min | Mike Melvill | |
| 03G | August 7, 2003 | 278 km/h | 14.33 km[69] | 19 min 00 s | Mike Melvill |
| 04GC | August 27, 2003 | 370 km/h[69] | 14 km | 1 h 06 min | Mike Melvill |
| 05G | August 27, 2003 | 370 km/h | 14.69 km[69] | 10 min 30 s | Mike Melvill |
| 06G | September 23, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.26 km[69] | 12 min 15 s | Mike Melvill |
| 07G | October 17, 2003 | 241 km/h | 14.08 km[69] | 17 min 49 s | Mike Melvill |
| 08G | November 14, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.42 km[69] | 19 min 55 s | Peter Siebold |
| 09G | November 19, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.72 km[69] | 12 min 25 s | Mike Melvill |
| 10G | December 4, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.75 km[69] | 13 min 14 s | Brian Binnie |
| 11P | December 17, 2003 | Mach 1.2 | 20.67 km[69] | 18 min 10 s | Brian Binnie |
| 12G | March 11, 2004 | 232 km/h | 14.78 km[69] | 18 min 30 s | Peter Siebold |
| 13P | April 8, 2004 | Mach 1.6 | 32.00 km[69] | 16 min 27 s | Peter Siebold |
| 14P | May 13, 2004 | Mach 2.5 | 64.43 km[69] | 20 min 44 s | Mike Melvill |
| 15P | June 21, 2004 | Mach 2.9 | 100.124 km[69] | 24 min 05 s | Mike Melvill |
| 16P | September 29, 2004 | Mach 2.92 | 102.93 km[69] | 24 min 11 s | Mike Melvill |
| 17P | October 4, 2004 | Mach 3.09 | 112.014 km[69] | 23 min 56 s | Brian Binnie |
| Code | Detail |
|---|---|
| GFxx | Glide Flight |
| CCxx | Captive Carry Flight |
| CFxx | Cold Flow Flight |
| PFxx | Powered Flight |
| Fxx | Feathering deployed |
| Flight designation | Date | Duration | Maximum altitude | Top speed | Pilot / co-pilot | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 / GF01 | 10 October 2010 | 13 min | 46,000 feet (14,000 m) | 180 knots (210 mph; 330 km/h) EAS 2 g | Siebold /Alsbury | |
| 44 / GF02 | 28 October 2010 | 10 min, 51 sec | 230 knots (260 mph; 430 km/h) EAS 3 g | Stucky / Alsbury | ||
| 45 / GF03 | 17 November 2010 | 11 min, 39 sec | 246 knots (283 mph; 456 km/h) EAS 3.5 g | Siebold / Nichols | ||
| 47 / GF04 | 13 January 2011 | 11 min, 34 sec | 250knots (290 mph; 460 km/h)EAS 3.8 g | Stucky / Nichols | ||
| 56 / GF05 | 22 April 2011 | 14 min, 31 sec | Siebold /Shane | |||
| 57 / GF06 | 27 April 2011 | 16 min, 7 sec | Stucky / Alsbury | |||
| 58 / GF07 | 4 May 2011 | 11 min, 5 sec | 51,500 feet (15,700 m) | 15,500 feet per minute (4,700 m/min) | Siebold / Nichols | F01 |
| 59 / GF08 | 10 May 2011 | 13 min, 2 sec | Stucky / Shane | |||
| 60 / GF09 | 19 May 2011 | 11 min, 32 sec | Siebold /Binnie | |||
| 61 / GF10 | 25 May 2011 | 10 min, 14 sec | Above 50,000 feet (15,000 m) | Stucky / Binnie | F02 | |
| 62 / (CC12) | 9 June 2011 | Siebold / Shane | Release failure during flight intended as GF11 | |||
| 64 / GF11 | 14 June 2011 | 13 min, 18 sec | Siebold / Shane | |||
| 65 / GF12 | 15 June 2011 | 10 min, 32 sec | Stucky / Nichols | |||
| 66 / GF13 | 21 June 2011 | 8 min, 55 sec | Siebold / Nichols | |||
| 67 / GF14 | 23 June 2011 | 7 min, 33 sec | Stucky / Nichols | |||
| 68 / GF15 | 27 June 2011 | 7 min, 39 sec | Siebold / Binnie | |||
| 73 / GF16 | 29 September 2011 | 7 min, 15 sec | Stucky / Nichols / Persall | F03 | ||
| 87 / GF17 | 26 June 2012 | 11 min, 22 sec | Siebold / Alsbury | |||
| 88 / GF18 | 29 June 2012 | 13 min | Stucky /Mackay | |||
| 90 / GF19 | 18 July 2012 | 10 min, 39 sec | Siebold / Nichols | |||
| 91 / GF20 | 2 August 2012 | 8 min | Stucky / Nichols | F04 | ||
| 92 / GF21 | 7 August 2012 | 9 min, 52 sec | Siebold / Colmer | F05 | ||
| 93 / GF22 | 11 August 2012 | 8 min, 2 sec | Stucky / Binnie | |||
| 109 / GF23 | 19 December 2012 | 13 min, 24 sec | Stucky / Alsbury | |||
| 113 / GF24 | 3 April 2013 | 9 min | Stucky / Nichols | F06 | ||
| 114 / CF01 | 12 April 2013 | 10 min, 48 sec | Stucky / Alsbury | |||
| 115 / PF01[75][76] | 29 April 2013 | 13 min | 56,000 feet (17,000 m) | Mach 1.22 | Stucky / Alsbury | |
| 130 / GF25 | 25 July 2013 | 11 min, 52 sec | Stucky / Mackay | |||
| 131 / GF26 | 8 August 2013 | 10 min | Stucky / Mackay | F07 | ||
| 132 / PF02 | 5 September 2013 | 14 min | 69,000 feet (21,000 m) | Mach 1.43 | Stucky / Nichols | F08 |
| 141 / GF27 | 11 December 2013. | 11 min | Stucky / Masucci | |||
| 147 / PF03 | 10 January 2014 | 12 min, 43 sec | 72,000 feet (22,000 m)[77] | Mach 1.4 | Mackay / Stucky[78] | F09 |
| 149 / GF28 | 17 January 2014 | 14 min, 12 sec | Siebold /Sturckow | |||
| 156 / GF29[79] | 29 July 2014 | 12 min | Masucci / Siebold | |||
| 164 / CF02[79] | 28 August 2014 | 13 min | Siebold / Alsbury | |||
| 170 / GF30[80] | 7 October 2014 | 10 min, 30 sec | Siebold / Sturckow[81] | F10 | ||
| ?? / PF04 | 31 October 2014 | 0 min, 13 sec | roughly 50,000 feet (15,000 m)[82] | ? (at least Mach 0.92) | Siebold / Alsbury[83] | Unintended featheringdestroys vehicle in-flight |
| Code | Detail |
|---|---|
| GFxx | Glide Flight |
| CCxx | Captive Carry Flight |
| CFxx | Cold Flow Flight |
| PFxx | Powered Flight |
| Fxx | Feathering deployed |
| Flight designation | Date | Duration | Maximum altitude | Top speed | Pilot / co-pilot / passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 / CC01 | 8 September 2016 | 15.2 km (50,000 ft) | Stucky /Mackay | [84] | ||
| 02 / CC02 | 1 November 2016 | Strong winds, no release during flight intended as GF01[85] | ||||
| 03 / CC03 | 3 November 2016 | Strong winds, no release during second attempt at GF01 | ||||
| 04 / CC04 | 30 November 2016 | Test of minor modifications | ||||
| 05 / GF01 | 3 December 2016 | 10 minutes[86] | 16.8 km (55,000 ft) | Mach 0.6 | Stucky / Mackay | First Glide Flight[87][88][89][90] |
| 06 / GF02 | 22 December 2016 | Stucky / Mackay | [91] | |||
| 07 / GF03 | 24 February 2017 | Sturckow / Mackay | 3rd Glide Flight | |||
| 08 / GF04 | 1 May 2017 | Stucky / Masucci | F01[92] | |||
| 09 / CF01 | 1 June 2017 | Mackay / Sturckow | [93] | |||
| 10 / GF06 | 4 August 2017 | Mackay / Sturckow | First flight with major propulsion components aboard.[94][95] | |||
| 11 / GF07 | 11 January 2018 | Mach 0.9 | Stucky / Masucci | [96][97][98][99] | ||
| 12 / PF01 | 5 April 2018 | 25.7 km (84,300 ft) | Mach 1.87 | Stucky / Mackay | F02[100] | |
| 13 / PF02 | 29 May 2018 | 34.9 km (114,501 ft)[101][102] | Mach 1.9 | Mackay / Stucky | Test of changed center of gravity as passenger seats carried for first time. F03[103] | |
| 14 / PF03 | 26 July 2018 | 52.1 km (170,800 ft)[104] | Mach 2.47[104] | Mackay / Masucci[105] | ReachedMesosphere for first time.[106] | |
| 15 / VP-03 | 13 December 2018 | 82.7 km (271,330 ft) | Mach 2.9[107] | Stucky / Sturckow | Reachedouter space for first time according to the US definition of thespace border.[108] | |
| 16 / VF-01 | 22 February 2019 | 89.9 km (295,007 ft)[109][110] | Mach 3.04[109] | Mackay / Masucci /Moses[109] | Carried third crew member (1 in the passenger cabin) for the first time[109] | |
| 17 / GF08 | 1 May 2020 | 15.24 km (50,000 ft)[111] | Mach 0.7[111] | Mackay / Sturckow[111] | First flight from New Mexico[111] | |
| 18 / GF09 | 25 June 2020 | 15.54 km (51,000 ft)[112] | Mach 0.85[112] | Stucky / Masucci[112] | ||
| 19 | 12 December 2020 | Mackay / Sturckow | First attempted crewed spaceflight from New Mexico, aborted due to computer malfunction, engine ignited and automatically turned off.[113] | |||
| 21 /VF-03 | 22 May 2021 | 89.23 km (55.45 mi) | Mackay / Sturckow | First crewed spaceflight (above 50 miles) from New Mexico[114] | ||
| 22 | 11 July 2021 | 86.1 km (53.5 mi)[115] | Mackay / Masucci / Sirisha Bandla, Colin Bennett, Beth Moses, Richard Branson | First fully crewed[note 1] flight included Richard Branson. | ||
| 24 / GF10 | 26 April 2023 | 9 minutes | 13.5 km (47,000 ft) | Sturckow / Pecile | [116] | |
| 25 | 25 May 2023 | 14 minutes | 87.2 km (54.2 mi) | Mach 2.94 | Masucci / Sturckow / Moses / Mays / Gilbert / Huie | [117][118] |
| Galactic 01 | 29 June 2023 | 13:50 minutes | 85.1 km (52.9 mi) | Mach 2.88 | Masucci / Pecile / Villadei / Carlucci / Pandolfi / Bennett | First VSS Unity commercial service flight, carrying members of theItalian Air Force.[119] |
| Galactic 02 | 10 August 2023 | 15:38 minutes | 88.5 km (55.0 mi) | Mach 3.00 | Sturckow / Latimer / Moses / Goodwin / Schahaff / Mayers | First VSS Unity flight carrying a private astronaut.[120] |
| Galactic 03 | 8 September 2023 | 12:37 minutes | 88.6 km (55.1 mi) | Mach 2.95 | Masucci / Pecile / Moses / Baxter / Reynard / Nash[121] | |
| Galactic 04 | 6 October 2023 | 14:23 minutes | 87.4 km (54.3 mi) | Mach 2.95 | Latimer / Sturckow / Moses / Rosano / Beattie / Salim[122] | |
| Galactic 05 | 2 November 2023 | 14:20 minutes | 87.2 km (54.2 mi) | Mach 2.96 | Masucci / Latimer / Bennett / Stern / Gerardi / Maisonrouge[123] | |
| Galactic 06 | 26 January 2024 | 88.8 km (55.2 mi) | Mach 2.98 | Sturckow / Pecile / Borozdina / Vaughn / Haider / Kornswiet | ||
| Galactic 07 | 8 June 2024 | 87.5 km (54.4 mi) | Mach 2.96 | Pecile / Janjua / Atasever/ Manenti /Pergament / Sadhwani | Final Unity flight |
In February 2007, Virgin announced that they had signed amemorandum of understanding with NASA to explore the potential for collaboration,[124][125] but this produced only a relatively small contract in 2011 of up to $4.5 million for research flights.[126]
Virgin Group in January 2015 announced an investment into theOneWeb satellite constellation providing world Internet access service ofWorldVu. Virgin Galactic would take a share of the launch contracts to launch the satellites into their 1,200 km (750 mi) orbits. The prospective launches were to use theLauncherOne system.[127][128] In 2017 the LauncherOne business was spun off intoVirgin Orbit, which ceased operations in 2023 following bankruptcy.[129]
Virgin Galactic and the Virgin Group collaborated withBoom Technology in order to create a newsupersonic passenger transporter as a successor to theConcorde. This new supersonic plane would fly at Mach 2.2 (similar to Concorde) for a 3-hour trans-Atlantic flight (half of standard), projected to cost $2,500–10,000 per seat (half of Concorde) for a load of 45 passengers (the Concorde held 100). It was anticipated that with the accumulation of knowledge since the design of Concorde, the new plane would be safer and cheaper with better fuel economy, operating costs, and aerodynamics. Boom would collaborate with Virgin'sThe Spaceship Company for design, engineering, and flight-test support, and manufacturing.[130][131][132]
The initial model would be theBoom TechnologyXB-1 "Baby Boom" Supersonic Demonstrator 1/3-size prototype. It would be capable of trans-Pacific flight, LA-to-Sydney in 6.75 hours, traveling at 2,335 km/h (1,451 mph). XB-1 would be equipped withGeneral Electric J85 engines, Honeywell avionics, with composite structures fabricated by Blue Force usingTenCate Advanced Composites carbon fibre products. Virgin Galactic had optioned 10 units.[131][132] These options expired in 2020.[citation needed]
On 24 January 2019, Virgin Galactic announced a partnership withUnder Armour for the fabrication of space suits for passengers and pilots ofSpaceShipTwo. Under Armour would also create uniforms for Virgin Galactic employees working at Spaceport America. The full range known as the UA | VG (Under Armour | Virgin Galactic) built with UA's new Intelliknit fabric was revealed later, ahead of Richard Branson's inaugural commercial flight.[133][134] This range included a base layer, the space suit and footwear. It was said that the base layer would enhance performance and blood flow during the high and zero G portions of flight and the liner of the spacesuit was made of new fabrics such as Tencel Luxe, SpinIt and Nomex, used for temperature control and moisture management.[135]
On 23 September 2025, Virgin Galactic announced a partnership withPurdue University for a Virgin Galactic suborbital spaceflight with an all-Boilermaker crew.[136] The flight is dubbed "Purdue 1" and plans to fly in 2027 with a five-person crew consisting of Purdue faculty, students and alumni. Current confirmed crew members are professor Steven Collicott, graduate student Abigail Mizzi, and alumnus Jason Williamson. In particular, the mission will serve as an opportunity for Collicott and Mizzi carry out graduate research on zero-gravity oscillations of liquids set in motion by rotation.
David Mackay, formerRAFtest pilot, was named chief pilot for Virgin Galactic in 2011[137] and chief test-pilot.[138] Steve Isakowitz was appointed as Virgin Galactic's president in June 2013.[139] In October 2016,Mike Moses replacedSteve Isakowitz as president; Isakowitz moved toAerospace Corp. to become president and CEO; Moses was promoted from VP Operations, and was once a NASA flight director and shuttle integration manager.[140]
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TheWhite Knight Two is a special aeroplane built as the mothership and launch-platform for the spacecraftSpaceShipTwo and the uncrewed launch vehicleLauncherOne (LauncherOne never launched from underneath a White Knight Two). The mothership is a large fixed-wingaircraft with two hulls linked together by a central wing. Two aircraft were planned –VMSEve[144] andVMSSpirit of Steve Fossett.[145][146][147] On 22 May 2021 Mothership Eve was used to carry VSSUnity to a launch altitude of 44,000 feet.[62]
TheLauncherOne system used aBoeing 747-400 aircraft, renamedCosmic Girl, which was acquired fromVirgin Atlantic.[148][149] This was spun off intoVirgin Orbit with theLauncherOne business in 2017.
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Virgin Galactic plans to have generation 2 motherships ready for 2025, for the next-generationDelta-class spaceplanes. In July 2022, Virgin announced it would partner with Boeing'sAurora Flight Sciences to design and build the next generation of mothership.[150][needs update]
Boeing ended work on the contract in 2023 and has now filed suit against Virgin Galactic over unpaid bills according to a report in SpaceNews.[151] The lawsuit was settled in 2024.[152]
Richard Branson unveiled the rocket plane on 7 December 2009, announcing that, after testing, the plane would carry fare-paying passengers ticketed for short duration journeys just above theatmosphere. Virgin Group would initially launch from a base in New Mexico before extending operations around the globe. Built from lightweight carbon-composite materials and powered by a hybrid rocket motor, SS2 was based on theAnsari X Prize-winning SpaceShipOne concept – a rocket plane that was lifted initially by a carrier aircraft before independent launch. SS1 became the world's first private spaceship with a series of high-altitude flights in 2004.[153]
The programme was delayed after three Scaled Composites employees – Todd Ivens, Eric Blackwell and Charles May – were killed in an accident in Mojave on 26 July 2007, where the detonation of a tank of nitrous oxide destroyed a test stand.[154] They had been observing the test from behind a chain-link fence that offered no protection from the shrapnel and debris when the tank exploded. Three other employees were injured in the blast and the company was fined for breaches of health and safety rules. The cause of the accident has never been made public.[155]
The successor to SS1, SS2 was twice as large, measuring 18 m (60 ft) in length; whereas SpaceShipOne could carry a single pilot and two passengers, SS2 was planned to have a crew of two and room for six passengers. By August 2013, 640 customers had signed up for a flight,[156] initially at a ticket price of $200,000 per person, but raised to $250,000 in May 2013.[157] Tickets were available from more than 140 "space agents" worldwide.[158]
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SpaceShipTwo was designed to fly to a height of 110 km,[159] going beyond the definedboundary of space (100 km) and lengthening the experience of weightlessness for its passengers. The spacecraft would reach a top speed of 4000 km/h (2485 mph). On 23 May 2014, Virgin Galactic announced that they had abandoned use of the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) nitrous-oxide-rubber motor for SpaceShipTwo;[160] on 24 July 2014, SNC confirmed that they had also abandoned use of this motor for theirDream Chaser space shuttle.[161] Future testing was to see SpaceShipTwo powered by a polyamide grain powered motor. As of July 2021 the maximum height reached has been 89.9 km.[162]
In honor of the science-fiction seriesStar Trek, the first ship was named after the fictional starshipEnterprise. To reenter the atmosphere, SpaceShipTwo folded its wings and then returned them to their original position for an unpowered descent flight back onto the runway. The craft had a very limited cross-range capability, and until other planned spaceports would be built worldwide, it had to land in the area where it started. Further spaceports were planned in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere, with the intention that the spaceline would have a worldwide availability and commodity in the future.
There was a series of delays to the SS2 flight test vehicle becoming operational, amidst repeated assurances from Virgin Galactic marketing that operational flights were only a year or two out. TheWall Street Journal reported in November 2014 that there has been "tension between Mr. Branson's upbeat projections and the persistent hurdles that challenged the company's hundreds of technical experts."[163] The company responded that "the company and its contractors 'have internal milestones, such as schedule estimates and goals, but the companies are driven by safety and the completion of the flight test program before moving into commercial service.' Virgin Galactic's schedules have always been consistent with internal schedules of its contractors and changes have 'never impacted flight safety'."[163]
SpaceShip III was an evolved version of SpaceShipTwo. All SpaceShip III development was cancelled in 2024 with no SpaceShip III spaceplanes completed or flown.
Virgin Galactic plans to have its third generation spaceship, theDelta class, ready for testing in 2025 and commercial flight in 2026, along with the next generation of mothership.[150] The Delta class is to be functionally the same as the SpaceShip III class, but it has been redesigned for higher production volumes.[164][165]
| SpaceShipTwo (spaceships) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Status | ||||
| VSSEnterprise | 2010 | 2014 | Destroyed due to in flight anomaly | ||||
| VSSUnity | 2016 | 2024 | Retired | ||||
| SpaceShip III (spaceships) | |||||||
| VSSImagine[166] | Cancelled; never flown | ||||||
| VSSInspire | Cancelled; never flown | ||||||
| WhiteKnightTwo (motherships) | |||||||
| Name | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Status | ||||
| VMSEve | 2008 | In use | In use | ||||
| Boeing 747 (motherships) | |||||||
| Name | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Status | ||||
| Cosmic Girl | 2015 | 2017 | Transferred from Virgin Galactic toVirgin Orbit in 2017 | ||||
In 2008 it was announced that test launches for its fleet of two White Knight Two mother ships and five or more SpaceShipTwo tourist suborbital spacecraft would take place from theMojave Spaceport, whereScaled Composites was constructing the spacecraft.[167][needs update] An international architectural competition for the design of Virgin Galactic's operating base,Spaceport America inNew Mexico, saw the contract awarded to URS and Foster + Partners architects.[168] In the same year Virgin Galactic announced that it would eventually operate in Europe out ofSpaceport Sweden[169][needs update] or even fromRAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.[170]
While the original plan called for flight operations to transfer from the California desert to the new spaceport upon completion of the spaceport,[167] at the time Virgin Galactic had yet to complete the development and test program ofSpaceShipTwo. In October 2010, the 3,000 m (10,000 ft) runway at Spaceport America was opened, with SpaceShipTwo "VSS Enterprise" shipped to the site carried underneath the fuselage of Virgin Galactic's mothershipEve.[171]
LauncherOne was anorbital launch vehicle that Virgin Galactic had begun working on by late 2008,[172] with the technical specifications defined in some detail in late 2009.[173] The LauncherOne configuration was proposed to be an expendable, two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket, envisaged to beair-launched from aWhite Knight Two.[174] This would make it a similar configuration to that used byOrbital Sciences'Pegasus, or a smaller version of theStratoLaunch.
LauncherOne was publicly announced in July 2012. It was intended to launch "smallsat"payloads of 200 kilograms (440 lb) intoEarth orbit. Severalcommercial customers initially contracted for launches, including GeoOptics,Skybox Imaging, Spaceflight Services, andPlanetary Resources. BothSurrey Satellite Technology andSierra Nevada Space Systems began developingsatellite buses "optimized to the design of LauncherOne".[175][176]
In 2015, Virgin Galactic established a 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m2) research, development, and manufacturing center for LauncherOne at theLong Beach Airport.[177] The company reported in March 2015 that they were on schedule to begin test flights of LauncherOne with its Newton 3 engine by the end of 2016.[178] On 25 June 2015, the company signed a contract withOneWeb Ltd. for 39 satellite launches for itssatellite constellation with an option for an additional 100 launches.[179]
In March 2017, Virgin Galactic spun off its 200-member LauncherOne team into a new company calledVirgin Orbit.[180] Virgin Orbit went bankrupt in 2023 after a few space launches.
In 2016 TSC, Virgin Galactic and the Virgin Group began a collaboration withBoom Technology to develop asupersonic trans-oceanic passenger jetliner.[131][132] A mission concept review of a Mach 3 vehicle design was carried out.[181]
On 11 July 2021 Virgin Galactic became the first spaceflight company to independently launch a founder of the company into space, using the 50-mile (80 km) high US definition of space, having flown founder Richard Branson above the 50-mile (80 km) mark on flightUnity 22[note 2]. This suborbital flight was accomplished using the twin-fuselage aircraft launch platform VMS Eve, coupled together withVSS Unity, enabling Branson, three other employee passengers and the two pilots to experience approximately three minutes of weightlessness above Earth's atmosphere. The entire flight lasted approximately one hour, taking off and landing atSpaceport America facility nearTruth or Consequences, New Mexico.
This flight had originally been scheduled to occur later in the summer; however, shortly after the announcement of competitorBlue Origin's plans to fly Amazon founderJeff Bezos into space on 20 July 2021, the Virgin Galactic flight was rescheduled to occur on 11 July 2021. At the time Virgin Galactic had been certified by the FAA to provide commercial spaceflight travel,[182] and its accounts reported that over 600 commercial passengers had already signed up. The August 2021 price wasUS$450,000 per person.[183]
Virgin Galactic (at some point) planned to begin commercial spaceflight service in 2022;[184][185] and said it was in the final phases of returning its suborbital spaceplane to commercial service in Feb 2022.[186] Thefirst commercial flight took place on 29 June 2023 with three outside passengers (people not employed by Virgin Galactic whose flight was paid for from outside Virgin Galactic).[187] The 70-minute mission was purchased for the Italian Air Force and the Italian National Research Council. The company at the time had a backlog of 800 or so individuals who've bought tickets to ride onUnity. The approximate launch cadence at the time was about one launch a month.[citation needed]
Virgin Galactic ceased flights of its VSS Unity spaceplane in mid-2024 to focus on developing its next-generation Delta-class spacecraft. This strategic shift aims to enhance flight frequency and operational efficiency, with the Delta-class vehicles expected to commence commercial service by 2026.[188]
It was designed to be carried 15km into the air by the WhiteKnightTwo jet and then released by the mothership, whereupon a rocket motor ignites to fire the craft to an altitude of 110km, before it returns to Earth as a glider.
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