Watch the Launch

Additional Media

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic is launching a new space age, where all are invited along for the ride.

Galactic 01

Overview

Destination: Suborbital
Mission: Biology

Suborbital Spaceport America Air launch to Suborbital flight

Research mission for the Italian Air Force, first commercial Virgin Galactic mission.

Updates

Nosu • June 29, 2023, 3:45 p.m.

Successful flight and landing of VSS Unity


Nosu • June 29, 2023, 3:30 p.m.

Release of VSS Unity


Nosu • June 29, 2023, 3:22 p.m.

Setting T-0 to estimated drop time


SpaceShipTwo

Family: SpaceShipTwo
Configuration:

The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic.

Specifications
  • Stages
    1
  • Length
    18.0 m
  • Diameter
    8.2 m
  • Fairing Diameter
  • Launch Mass
    9 T
  • Thrust
    310 kN
Family
  • Name
    SpaceShipTwo
  • Family
    SpaceShipTwo
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    SpaceShipTwo
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

VSS Unity


Active Human Rated Crew On-board: 6 Crew Capacity: 8
Destination: Suborbital
Serial Number: N202VG

VSS Unity, previously referred to as VSS Voyager, is a SpaceShipTwo-class suborbital rocket-powered crewed spaceplane. It is the second SpaceShipTwo to be built and will be used as part of the Virgin Galactic fleet.

SpaceShipTwo Details

Crew


Michael Masucci

Commander - American - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: None
Age: None

Nicola Pecile

Pilot - Italian - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: March 11, 1973
Age: 50

Colin Bennett

Instructor - Scottish-American - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: None
Age: None

Angelo Landolfi

Passenger - Italian - ( IAF )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: None
Age: None

Pantaleone Carlucci

Passenger - Italian - ( CNR )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: None
Age: None

Walter Villadei

Passenger - Italian - ( IAF )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: April 29, 1974
Age: 49

Virgin Galactic

Circle Image
Founder: Richard Branson Founded: 2004 Successes: 58 Failures: 5 Pending: 1

Agency Type: Private

Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company within the Virgin Group. It is developing commercial spacecraft and aims to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft are air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two.

INFO WIKI

Related News

CNBC

Virgin Galactic banks $2 million in quarterly revenue after first commercial spaceflight

Virgin Galactic reported second-quarter losses on Tuesday that were slightly wider the year-ago period, as the space tourism company pushes on toward flying customers on monthly flights after launching commercial service.

SpacePolicyOnline.com

Virgin Galactic Scores Success with First Commercial Spaceflight

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic finally launched its first commercial SpaceShipTwo flight today. Galactic-01 took four Italians and two Americans across the threshold between air and space for a few minutes […]

SpaceNews

Virgin Galactic completes first commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital flight

After nearly two decades of development, Virgin Galactic conducted its first commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital flight June 29.

SpaceNews

SpaceShipTwo to demonstrate research capabilities on first commercial flight

Virgin Galactic is set to conduct its first commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceflight June 29, one that will demonstrate the readiness of the vehicle for commercial operations as well as its role as a research platform.

NASASpaceflight

Launch Roundup: SpaceX to launch Euclid; Virgin Galactic to fly crewed suborbital mission

Four launches are planned for the week of June 24 to July 1. The Russians are planning to launch a Meteor weather satellite aboard a Soyuz rocket on Tuesday, June 27, and Virgin Galactic plans to fly its Galactic 01 crewed suborbital missi…

Air launch to Suborbital flight

Spaceport America


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
5 days, 22 hours ago
Soyuz MS-24
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Soyuz MS-24 carried two cosmonauts and one astronaut to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in K…


Firefly Alpha
Success
6 days, 11 hours ago
FLTA003 (VICTUS NOX)
Space Launch Complex 2W - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Third flight of the Firefly Alpha small sat launcher, carrying a payload for the US Department of Defense.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Starlink Group 7-2
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Atlas V 551
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
NROL-107 (Silent Barker)
Space Launch Complex 41 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

Classified space situational awareness (SSA) payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).


Long March 6A
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
Yaogan 40
Launch Complex 9A - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

3 Chinese reconnaissance satellites of unknown purposes, officially reported as for "Electromagnetic environment probing" purposes.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Starlink Group 6-14
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

A batch of 22 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


SpaceShipTwo
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Galactic 03
Spaceport America - Air launch to Suborbital flight

Third commercial Virgin Galactic mission.


H-IIA 202
Success
2 weeks ago
XRISM & SLIM
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1 - Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), formerly the X-Ray Astronomy Recovery Mission (XARM), is a replacement for the Hitomi satellite that …


Long March 4C
Success
2 weeks ago
Yaogan 33-03
Launch Area 4 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

The Yaogan 33-03 is a Chinese military “remote sensing” satellite of unknown purpose.


Ceres-1S
Success
2 weeks, 2 days ago
4x Tianqi
DeFu-15002 mobile launch platform - Sea Launch

4 small satellites for LEO Internet of Things (IoT) communication purposes.