Crew Members of Galactic 01 Mission Prepare for Virgin Galactic’s First Commercial Spaceflight

Spaceflight company Virgin Galactic introduced the crew aboard the 90-minute mission set on June 29. The personnel includes lead astronaut instructor Colin Bennett, Italian airforce senior members Walter Villadei and Angelo Landolfi, and National Research Council of Italy technical engineer Pantaleone Carlucci.

Virgin Galactic's First Crewed Mission

The mission, named Galactic 01, will be the first fully commercial crewed spaceflight of Virgin Galactic. If it succeeds, the company can compete with rival agencies that provide commercial passenger flights like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

During their flight, the crew will conduct suborbital science experiments like equipment testing for cosmic radiation and materials analysis in microgravity conditions. The passengers will be housed in the rocket-powered spaceplane called SpaceShipTwo vehicle VSS Unity. Its cabin will be transformed into a suitable science laboratory for conducting suborbital experiments.

Former US Air Force lieutenant colonel Michael Masucci will drive the space rocket. At the same time, US military pilots Kelly Latimer and Jameel Janjua will pilot the VMS Eve, which will serve as the mothership that will carry VSS Unity into space.

2019 Virgin Galactic signed the contract for this space mission with the Italian Air Force, with a launch estimate between 2020 and 2021. However, some supply chain and labor issues delayed the projected planned flight. The US Federal Aviation Authority also grounded all its missions in late 2021. This is due to the technical problems involved in the Unity 22 mission, which carried Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson.

In May 2023, a test flight was successfully conducted by the company. After this first crewed mission, a second commercial spaceflight named Galactic 02 is expected to be launched in early August. Virgin Galactic hopes that monthly spaceflights will follow the second mission.

What is a Suborbital Flight?

In the space travel industry, a spaceflight can be orbital or suborbital. Their main difference lies in the speed at which a vehicle is traveling. In an orbital flight, the spacecraft must achieve orbital velocity, whereas a suborbital flight allows the rocket to fly at a lower speed.

Orbital velocity refers to the speed that needs to be maintained by an object for it to remain in orbit around the Earth. During an orbital space flight, a vehicle must travel at 17,400 mph to travel 125 miles above the Earth. Because of this incredibly high speed, an orbital flight is technically complex and expensive.

In contrast, a suborbital flight only requires a speed of 3,700 mph which is still faster than a commercial airplane. A suborbital rocket cannot achieve orbit, so it tends to fly up to a certain altitude depending on its speed. Once the engines are shut off, the rocket will come back down on the surface of the Earth.

Private spaceflight companies compete in providing orbital or suborbital journeys to potential customers. Agencies such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are in a race to attain regular private suborbital flight services in the future.