Virgin Galactic announced the schedule for its third commercial spaceflight on Friday, September 8. However, there will not be a live broadcast of the launch. The Galactic 03 mission will lift off on Friday morning, carrying three paying customers from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo space plane Unity flies at Spaceport America, near Truth and Consequences, New Mexico on July 11, 2021 before travel to the cosmos.
Who Will Be Onboard Galactic 03 Mission?
Company officials said that liftoff for Galactic 03 will occur at approximately 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT), similar to past missions. Instead of a live stream, updates will be shared via social media about the launch.
Another change from previous practices is that Virgin Galactic has not disclosed the identities of the three customers, except that they have held tickets for an extended period. As per Virgin Galactic's statement last month, the three Galactic 03 crew members are the initial members of the "Founder" astronaut group.
These individuals, who purchased their tickets as early as 2005, played a significant role in realizing the vision of routine commercial space travel through their early ticket purchases and active participation in the company's Future Astronaut community. It is worth noting that the ticket price at that time was significantly lower than the current $450,000.
The three customers will travel on Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spacecraft, accompanied by the company's astronaut instructor Colin Bennett, while the spacecraft will be piloted by Nicola Pecile and Michael Masucci.
The spacecraft takes off by being released from beneath the wings of VMS Eve, Virgin Galactic's carrier aircraft. Eve releases the spacecraft at an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet (15,000 meters). At this point, Unity ignites its rocket motor to reach suborbital space. Subsequently, both Unity and Eve return to Earth, executing runway landings.
READ ALSO: Crew Members of Galactic 01 Mission Prepare for Virgin Galactic's First Commercial Spaceflight
Virgin Galactic's Space Tourism Endeavour
Virgin Galactic's latest mission, Galactic 03, represents the company's third foray into commercial spaceflight. It follows the successful Galactic 02 mission on August 10 and the inaugural Galactic 01 mission on June 29, including test flights. VSS Unity, the spacecraft at the heart of these missions, has ventured into space a remarkable total of seven times.
The Galactic 01 mission marks a historic first for the company as it is its first commercial spaceflight. It represents a new era of government-funded research for crewed spaceflights.
It mission objectives include conducting 13 manned and autonomous experiments in low-Earth orbit, examining biomedicine thermo-fluid dynamic, as well as develop and innovate sustainable materials while in a microgravity environment. Also, Galactic 01 aims to collect data via wearble payloads and sensors mounted in the spacecraft's cabin system.
Meanwhile, Galactic 02 represents Virgin Galactic's inaugural private astronaut mission, carrying three private passengers on a journey into space. It also marked the third successful spaceflight for Virgin Galactic in just over three months.
Galactic 02 achieved numerous historic milestones, including having the first female astronauts from the Caribbean, the first mother-daughter duo in space, the most women on a single space mission, the youngest person in space, the first Olympian in space, the first majority-female spaceflight, and the sixth and seventh Black women in space. Also, it marked the second person with Parkinson's and the third oldest person to journey into space.
With the Galactic 03 mission's upcoming launch, it is expected to achieve greater milestones and create history. But Virgin Galactic is just one company among numerous companies aiming to send their spacecraft and join the space tourism industry. That means more private spaceflights are expected in the future.
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