Who needs an airline when you can have a space network? Eager to become the first regular commercial spacecraft, Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson had promised to take people into space in 2004. Since then, he has predicted that his "spaceship of the future" was well under way. The point to start. However, impressive progress has been made and in December 2018, Virgin Galactic's supersonic spacecraft VSS Unity finally reached space. In February 2019, it was even higher. Next step: real or space tourist trips?
This is the view you'll get from VSS Unity (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)
When will Virgin Galactic start space tourism and how much will it cost?
Branson said he planned to use the company's SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle in 2019, likely on July 16, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch in 2019. About 600 "future astronauts" are registered and each has submitted a Depot. € 20,000 (approximately € 15,000), although the final cost of the bonds is € 250,000 (approximately € 190,000).
VSS Unity takes off attached to its mothership (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)
Who owns Virgin Galactic and what is it based on?
Virgin Galactic is part of the Virgin Group, which is owned by billionaire British businessman Sir Richard Branson. Virgin Group also includes companies such as Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Holidays, Virgin Radio, Virgin Rail, Virgin Rail, Virgin Rail, Virgin Rail and Virgin Hyperloop One, which is trying to build a very high-speed people's channel. . Virgin Galactic has two sister companies, Virgin Orbit (which launches small satellites from a Boeing 747) and The SpaceShip Company, which builds and tests the VSS Unit. One of the main investors in the three countries was supposed to be Saudi Arabia with $2018 billion, but Branson called it off after Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. In Turkey, as of October XNUMX. Virgin Galactic is currently based at Mojave Aerospace and Spaceport America's Spaceport in Mojave, California. But he plans to move to Spaceport America, New Mexico.
VSS Unity reached its second place in February 2019 in the skies of Mojave, California (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
What are Virgin Galactic's long-term goals?
An incredibly ambitious and publicity-savvy man, Branson shows less enthusiasm for space than Elon Musk at SpaceX and Jeff Bezos at Blue Origin. "Your lives will be transformed by space," he wrote in a video letter to his grandchildren after SpaceShipTwo made it into space for the first time in December 2018. "This will give your generation the planetary perspective on which you rest." the future of humanity. May we all be in the same boat on Earth's spaceship." Branson believes that as many people as possible need to see the curvature of the Earth from space to get a sense of the powerful "flyby effect" that many astronauts report feeling after returning from Earth. ; space. If we all see the Earth from space, we quickly realize how unimportant national borders and cultural differences are. This is a very different perspective from Musk and Bezos, who want to go far beyond the edge of Earth's atmosphere. Branson is all, and almost unique, suborbital space tourism. Yes, it costs €250,000 (about €190,000, 360,000 AU) for now, but the goal is to dramatically reduce the price in the future.
VSS Unity is an eight-seat supersonic space plane (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)
Virgin Galactic Supersonic suborbital space plane VSS Unity
Virgin Galactic is very serious about space tourism. Their VSS Unity spaceship is a supersonic vehicle designed and manufactured by sister company The Spaceship Company, separately owned by Scaled Composites. It is based on Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne, the first private rocket to reach space in 2004 (previously VSS Unity and its earlier VSS Enterprise system were called SpaceShipTwo). It has two seats for pilots and six for passengers, but the way it moves is unusual. It is part of the space trajectory when attached to the landing gear of a custom transport plane named VMS Eve (formerly WhiteKnightTwo) before leaving and launching. in the space. The spaceship company now has two other spacecraft such as VSS Etta and VSS Artie, as VSS Unity to launch commercial service, but there is only one Eve VMS.
Sir Richard Branson with pilots Mark Stucky and Michael Masucci after VSS Unity's first successful mission in space (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)
The testing program so far.
VSS Unity has been rendered in space twice successfully. That's what it did for the first time in December 2018 when pilots Mark Stucky and Michael Masucci (plus some NASA payloads and a dummy named Annie) hit 51.4 miles. In February 2019, it reached space for the second time. This was the fifth rocket-powered flight of VSS Unity. Three people were on board. pilots Dave Mackay and Masucci, as well as Virgin Galactic Senior Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses. "Astronaut wings" apply to all those who reach 50 miles, although, as the Kármán line located at 100 km is generally recognized as the starting point of space, it is likely that this is where the galactic virgin is ultimately pointing. . However, the test program was not without its problems. Two dramatic setbacks claimed the lives of four people, including co-driver Michael Alsbury in a crash in October 2014.
The curvature of the Earth from space during VSS Unity's second space trip in February 2019 (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)
What will tourists experience from the pristine galactic space?
Supersonic speeds, weightlessness, a view of the curvature of the Earth, and then more supersonic speeds. However, everything is very different from what Blue Origin is about to propose with its vertical lift-off New Shepherd suborbital rocket. Virgin Galactic's six customers will arrive at Spaceport New Mexico four days before the scheduled flight for medical exams, safety training, and G-force and microgravity simulation (which may involve virtual or augmented reality).
VSS Unity's second space trip (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)