VSS Unity zakończył służbę po 12 lotach, w tym 7. komercyjnych.
Wg planów minie ok. 2. lat zanim VG wznowi loty komercyjne, gdy wejdzie do służby przetestowany VSS klasy Delta.Virgin Galactic conducts final VSS Unity commercial suborbital spaceflightJeff Foust June 8, 2024 Updated 6:15 p.m. Eastern with comments from post-flight press conference.
VSS Unity, attached to its VMS Eve mothership aircraft, takes off from Spaceport America June 8 on the Galactic 07 suborbital spaceflight. Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff FoustSPACEPORT AMERICA, N.M. — Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spaceplane conducted its final commercial mission June 8, taking a Turkish researcher and three private astronauts on a suborbital spaceflight.
VSS Unity, attached to its VMS Eve mothership aircraft, took off from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico at 10:31 a.m. Eastern. Unity released from Eve at 11:26 a.m. Eastern, flying its typical suborbital trajectory to an altitude of 87.5 kilometers before gliding to a landing back at the spaceport at 11:41 a.m. Eastern. (...)
Atasever planned to conduct seven experiments during the suborbital flight. “The experimental side of the flight was a huge success,” he said at a press conference after the flight. Those experiments included sensors to monitor brain activity, radiation dosimeters and insulin pens designed to operate in microgravity. The brain activity experiment, he noted, included tests to try and capture any changes in brain activity linked to the perspective-altering “Overview Effect” caused by seeing the Earth from space.
He said that testing of the insulin pens, an experiment developed by Axiom Space, during tests in the week leading up to the flight revealed they were not working as expected. “We iterated, we changed a couple of things, and this time around worked perfectly in microgravity.”
The vehicle also carried a rack with automated payloads from Purdue University to study propellant slosh in microgravity and from the University of California Berkeley to test 3D printing. Those payloads were flown through NASA’s Flight Opportunities program.
The other three customers were private astronauts, whose identities were disclosed by Virgin Galactic only after the vehicle landed. They were
Andy Sadhwani, a principal propulsion engineer at SpaceX who previously did research at NASA and Stanford University;
Irving Pergament, a New York real estate developer and private pilot; and
Giorgio Manenti, an Italian investment manager living in London.
Unity was commanded by Nicola Pecile, making his fourth flight, with Jameel Janjua, on his first spaceflight, as pilot.
(...)
https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-conducts-final-vss-unity-commercial-suborbital-spaceflight/VIRGIN GALACTIC SAYS FAREWELL TO VSS UNITYBy Marcia Smith | Posted: June 9, 2024 2:17 pm ET | Last Updated: June 9, 2024 3:27 pm ET
Credit: Virgin Galactic(...) Virgin Galactic additionally flew two autonomous experiments through NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program for the University of California Berkeley on 3D printing and Purdue University on propellant slosh.
Unity departs Earth attached to an aircraft, Virgin Mother Ship (VMS) Eve, that releases it at about 45,000 feet. Unity then fires its rocket engine to ascend over the imaginary line that separates air and space for a few minutes and then glides back to land back where it started, Spaceport America in New Mexico. Yesterday Nicola Pecile and Jameel Janjua were commander and pilot, respectively of VSS Unity, while Andy Edgell and C.J. Sturckow were commander and pilot of VMS Eve. (...)
https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/virgin-galactic-says-farewell-to-vss-unity/https://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/international-crew-including-turkish-astronaut-take-off-for-suborbital-flight-3685503https://www.trtworld.com/turkiye/international-crew-including-turkish-astronaut-complete-suborbital-flight-18171223https://kosmonauta.net/2024/06/galactic-07-ostatni-komercyjny-lot-vss-unity/What’s the future of Virgin Galactic?Avatar for Seth Kurkowski Seth Kurkowski | Jun 27 2024 - 9:42 pm PT
Image: Virgin Galactic(...) Last week Virgin Galactic’s board approved a 20-for-1 reverse stock split that bumped its share price from less than $1 to about $10. However, the price is already back down into single digits and continues to lower.
The company has stated that it has enough cash to get it through the “Delta Class” development, which is good but that doesn’t mean they’re out of danger. The company will have to keep its budget tight to ensure they don’t over spend each quarter, but that likely won’t fix the problem.
So why end the SpaceShipTwo program at all? Virgin Galactic was able to launch six months in a row, blowing past its only competitor, Blue Origin, in launch cadence. It was also leaning into a market Blue wasn’t even touching, crewed research missions. (...)
https://spaceexplored.com/2024/06/27/whats-the-future-of-virgin-galactic/Virgin Galactic outlines economics of its future spaceplanesJeff Foust August 8, 2024 [SN]
Virgin Galactic plans to start assembling Delta-class suborbital spaceplanes in a new facility near Phoenix in early 2025. Credit: Virgin GalacticLOGAN, Utah — Virgin Galactic is making the case to the financial community that its new line of suborbital spaceplanes can boost the company towards profitability.
The company used an Aug. 7 earnings call less to discuss the company’s second quarter financial results than to lay out its financial models for how the new Delta-class vehicles, currently scheduled to enter commercial service in 2026, will dramatically alter the company’s bottom line.
https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-outlines-economics-of-its-future-spaceplanes/
Wątek: Artykuły o Virgin Galactic (Przeczytany 12458 razy)