Virgin Galactic achieved a major milestone by successfully flying its first paying customers to space. The Italian Air Force officers on board enjoyed a few minutes of weightlessness at an altitude of 52.9 miles above sea level and marveled at the view of Earth from space. The mission, called Galactic 01, began with a mothership aircraft taking off from Spaceport America in New Mexico. After reaching high altitude, the rocket-powered plane, VSS Unity, was released and soared into space at nearly Mach 3. The flight reached the border of space as defined by NASA and the US Air Force, which is 50 miles high.
Colonel Walter Villadei, one of the passengers, described the experience as a beautiful ride and mentioned that his favorite moment was seeing the contrast between space and the planet below. The crew also included Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolfi of the Italian Air Force, Pantaleone Carlucci of the National Research Council of Italy, and Colin Bennett of Virgin Galactic. There were two pilots on both the spaceplane and the carrier plane.
This successful flight comes after Virgin Galactic faced setbacks, including a brief grounding by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) due to a deviation from assigned airspace during founder Richard Branson’s test flight. The company also had to make upgrades to its vehicles after lab testing revealed certain materials fell below required strength margins. However, Virgin Galactic resumed its spaceflight activities in May with a successful test, leading up to the commercial flight on Thursday.
During the Galactic 01 mission, the crew conducted 13 experiments and collected data on their suits and sensors in the cabin. The experiments included measuring radiation levels in the mesosphere and studying how liquids and solids mix in microgravity. Colonel Villadei highlighted that Virgin Galactic provides a valuable opportunity for researchers to work in microgravity, bridging the gap between parabolic airplane flights and missions to the International Space Station.
Virgin Galactic, founded in 2004, has sold around 800 tickets for future commercial flights. The company plans to conduct monthly space hops after the next mission, Galactic 02, which is scheduled for August. Virgin Galactic competes in the suborbital space tourism sector with Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, and SpaceX, led by Elon Musk. While Blue Origin’s rocket has been grounded since an accident in 2022, SpaceX offers more expensive options for reaching higher altitudes or the International Space Station.
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