Virgin Galactic Successfully Launches Unity 25 Spacecraft After Almost 2 Years Grounded

Virgin Galactic Successfully Launches Unity 25 Spacecraft After Almost 2 Years Grounded

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic successfully on Thursday afternoon launched its first in almost two years Unity 25 space mission on VSS Unity spaceplane that took six people on board to the edge of space for a couple of minutes

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2023) Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic successfully on Thursday afternoon launched its first in almost two years Unity 25 space mission on VSS Unity spaceplane that took six people on board to the edge of space for a couple of minutes.

"Successful boost, WE HAVE REACHED SPACE!," the company said via Twitter.

VMS Eve, a carrier mothership, took off from the Spaceport America complex near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and launched the spacecraft at 12:24 p.m. Eastern Time.

According to Virgin Galactic, the spacecraft would first climb to an altitude of about 47,000 feet and then release VSS Unity spaceplane with two pilots and four Virgin Galactic employees on board at about 262,000 feet (approximately 80 km).

The Unity 25 crew included Flight Sciences Engineer Chris Hule, Virgin Galactic Astronaut Instructor Luke Mays, Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses, Mission Commander Mike Masucci, Mission Pilot C. J. Sturckow, Jamila Gilbert, Jameel Janjua and Pilot Nicola Pecile

In September 2021, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Virgin Galactic could resume flight operations after it concluded its investigation of the Unity 22 launch mishap, which was carrying Branson.

The FAA said it determined that Virgin Galactic's Unity 22 launch on July 11 deviated from its assigned airspace when it descended from space and the company failed to notify the agency about the incident as required.