VSS Unity VF-03

Overview

Destination: Suborbital
Mission: Test Flight

Suborbital Spaceport America Air launch to Suborbital flight

Powered test flight of VSS Unity carrying technology experiments for NASA's Flight Opportunities Program.

Updates

Nosu • May 22, 2021, 3:48 p.m.

Successful test flight and landing of VSS Unity.


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: 2 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


Frederick W. Sturckow

Pilot - American - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Aug. 11, 1961
Age: 61

David Mackay

Pilot - British - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Jan. 1, 1957
Age: 66

Virgin Galactic

Circle Image
Founder: Richard Branson Founded: 2004 Successes: 55 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

Spaceflight Now

Virgin Galactic flies to edge of space for first time from New Mexico

Two pilots flew Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocketplane to the edge of space Saturday over New Mexico on the first human spaceflight from the company’s new home base at Spaceport America.

Arstechnica

After Virgin Galactic’s success on Saturday, how soon can it fly again?

"We will immediately begin processing the data."

SpaceNews

SpaceShipTwo makes first flight to space from New Mexico

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first flight to space in more than two years May 22, completing the first in a series of four suborbital flights planned by the company over the next several months.

NASA Spaceflight

Virgin Galactic successfully makes first human spaceflight from New Mexico

Virgin Galactic has successfully performed the first human spaceflight from Spaceport America, just south of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, today, using the VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. The WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft VMS Eve…

SpaceNews

Virgin Galactic schedules next SpaceShipTwo test flight for May 22

Virgin Galactic will attempt its next SpaceShipTwo suborbital test flight as soon as May 22 after resolving concerns about the maintenance of its carrier aircraft.

Air launch to Suborbital flight

Spaceport America


Kuaizhou
Success
1 day, 12 hours ago
Longjiang 3
Unknown Pad - Jiuquan, People's Republic of China

Low Earth Orbit prototype communication satellite by Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), to test a new satellite platform in the shape of a plate f…


Kinetica 1
Success
3 days, 10 hours ago
Flight 2
Unknown Pad - Jiuquan, People's Republic of China

Will carry 26 different satellites on a ride-share launch mission, including Earth observation satellites, details TBD.


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 23 hours ago
Dragon CRS-2 SpX-28
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

28th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station operated by SpaceX. The flight will be conducted under the second Commer…


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 2 hours ago
Starlink Group 6-4
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.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Starlink Group 2-10
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

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


Chollima 1
Failure
1 week, 3 days ago
Malligyong-1
Malligyong-1 Pad - Sohae Satellite Launching Station, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Malligyong-1 (meaning "Telescope-1") is a North Korean satellite officially declared to be for military reconnaissance purposes. It failed to reach o…


Long March 2
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
Shenzhou 16
Launch Area 4 (SLS-1 / 921) - Jiuquan, People's Republic of China

Fifth crewed flight to the Chinese space station.


GSLV Mk II
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
IRNSS-1J (NVS-01)
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

This is a replacement satellite for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. The constellation will provide India with an alternative to GPS …


Falcon 9
Success
2 weeks ago
BADR-8
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

Geostationary communications satellite built by Airbus Defense and Space and based on the Eurostar Neo platform for Arabsat.


Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M
Success
2 weeks ago
Kondor-FKA No.1
Cosmodrome Site 1S - Vostochny Cosmodrome, Siberia, Russian Federation

The Kondor-FKA is a small civilian radar Earth observation satellite designed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya as a civilian counterpart to the Kondor-E sate…