Virgin Galactic Corporation, led by billionaire Richard Branson, is preparing for its second commercial suborbital flight this Thursday. The mission will deploy a reusable spaceplane carrying three everyday space tourists and three crew members, launching from a site in New Mexico and returning after a brief duration in space.
The VSS Unity craft is scheduled to lift off at 10:00 local time (14:00 UTC) from Spaceport America in New Mexico and will complete its mission after roughly 70 minutes in flight.
Company representatives note that Galactic 02 marks Virgin Galactic’s seventh spaceflight, its second commercial journey, and its first trip featuring civilian passengers.
The mission aims to reach multiple historic milestones and to push Virgin Galactic’s broader goal of widening access to space for more people.
The lineup of space tourists aboard VSS Unity includes Jon Goodwin, who at 80 years old holds the distinction of being Virgin Galactic’s first customer, and Keisha Schahaff, aged 46, along with her daughter Anastatia Mayers, who is 18. Mayers earned her seat through a charitable drawing that supported fundraising for the non-profit Space for Humanity.
The crew roster features Commander CJ Sturckow, pilot Kelly Latimer, and Virgin Galactic astronaut instructor Beth Moses, who provides training to passengers before journeying to space.
Although VSS Unity will not achieve orbital flight, the mission will offer several minutes of weightlessness for riders at a peak altitude that reveals Earth’s curvature against the backdrop of space, as noted by media sources covering the event.
A support aircraft, VMS Eve, will elevate VSS Unity to an approximate altitude of 15,000 meters. At that point, the spaceplane will detach, ignite its engines, and begin its suborbital ascent.
Virgin Galactic previously completed its first commercial flight last June, finishing a 90-minute mission that crossed the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.
The mission was led by pilot Mike Masucci and managed by Nicole Pecile, a former Italian Air Force member who now serves with Virgin Galactic and participated in the first flight as part of the operational team.
Onboard the vehicle were former astronauts Colin Bennett and Walter Villadei, along with Angelo Landolfi of the Italian Air Force, and Pantaleone Carlucci from the Italian National Research Council. Carlucci contributed to a suite of 13 microgravity experiments conducted during the flight.