Virgin Galactic will re-start commercial flights before the end of June. Its first mission, dubbed ‘Galactic 01’, and the first commercial flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle will happen between June 27th-30th on a scientific mission for the Italian Air Force. SpaceShipTwo will fly from Spaceport America in New Mexico. It will carry three people […]
A growing loss in trading is hardly surprising given that Virgin Galactic, the sub-orbital tourist rocket scheme, has been stuck on the ground these past two years. But that is about to change with a sub-orbital flight scheduled for late June (and a non-commercial flight due later in May) and following on from a successful […]
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism aircraft – not to be confused with Virgin Orbit which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy – is flying again. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first flight in almost two years on April 26th. It last flew with Branson aboard in July 2021. The aircraft combination comprising its SpaceShipTwo’s […]
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic business has reported a significant trading loss for 2022. The company said it remained “on track” to start carrying paying passengers in its space tourism business despite racking up $500 million in losses last year. The losses, specifically at Virgin Galactic Holdings, amount to $500 million compared to a loss […]
Virgin Galactic is finalising its plans for its ‘next generation’ sub-orbital, tourist spaceplane. Virgin has signed agreements with Bell Textron and Qarbon Aerospace for its new ‘Delta Class’ spaceplane. Virgin will build the planes at a new facility in Mesa, Arizona at a rate of up to six units per year. The company says it […]
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic sub-orbital flight plan has slipped further. It will not resume flights on its VSS Unity spaceplane until Q2 2023. Virgin says its upgrades to its SpaceShipTwo aircraft are taking longer than expected. It had previously stated that commercial flights would take place during Q1 2023. Virgin’s main task is work […]
Sir Richard Branson-backed Virgin Galactic will build its new ‘Delta-class’ sub-orbital spaceplanes at Mesa, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. Construction has already started. The Mesa facility will assemble the new spaceplanes and Virgin says the facility will be fully operational by the end of 2023 with the first aircraft carrying passengers by 2026. Completed aircraft […]
Virgin Galactic has signed a contract with a subsidiary of Boeing to build two new ‘mothership’ aircraft which will be used as launch platforms for its future spaceplanes and launching of satellites. Virgin has ordered the aircraft from Aurora Flight Sciences. They will take the place of its current WhiteKnightTwo (also known as Virgin Mothership […]
Space tourism business Virgin Galactic says around 800 would-be “astronauts” have made reservations for one of its sub-orbital flights. That might be the best news for the Sir Richard Branson-backed company which declared a delay to its passenger flights (to Q1/2023) and a net loss of $93 million for Q1 this year ($130 million loss […]
Sir Richard Branson and Chamath Palihapitiya, the former chairman of Branson’s Virgin Galactic rocket tourism company, who unexpectedly stepped down in February, have been accused of issuing misleading information to shareholders over the company’s share float and how it was financed. The investor lawsuit, filed February 21st by Virgin Galactic shareholder Thomas Spiteri, seeks damages […]