Virgin Galactic – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Virgin Galactic’s rocket plane climbs closer to space

July 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, built to eventually carry commercial passengers to the edge of space, accomplished another powered test flight into the rarefied upper atmosphere Thursday with two pilots on-board.

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo completes second powered test flight

May 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

Helmed by two test pilots, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane set new altitude and speed records for the company’s test program Tuesday during a powered flight over California’s Mojave Desert.

Video: SpaceShipTwo rocket plane soars on supersonic test flight

April 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

Virgin Galactic’s commercial SpaceShipTwo rocket plane made its highest and fastest flight to date Thursday, moving the company’s space tourism ambitions closer to reality more than three years after a fatal accident suspended powered test flights.

Photos: VSS Unity’s first powered test flight

April 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

These images captured by photographer Gene Blevins show Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo space plane making its first rocket-powered test flight Thursday over California’s Mojave Desert, then gliding back to a runway landing.

Virgin Galactic completes first rocket-powered test flight since 2014

April 5, 2018 Stephen Clark

Virgin Galactic’s second piloted suborbital spaceship made its first rocket-powered test flight Thursday, three-and-a-half years after the loss of an earlier model in an accident that killed one test pilot and injured another.

Virgin Galactic’s second spaceship aces first glide flight

December 5, 2016 Stephen Clark

Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane glided to a runway landing after dropping from its carrier aircraft over California’s Mojave Desert on Saturday.

Florida factory to mass-produce satellites at record pace

April 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

OneWeb officials Tuesday unveiled plans for a factory just outside the gates of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida that will churn out up to 15 satellites per week to populate low Earth orbit and beam broadband Internet signals worldwide.

Virgin Galactic in transition one year after fatal accident

November 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

Last year’s fatal crash of Virgin Galactic’s suborbital rocket plane has delayed the start of the company’s commercial operations at least a year, prompting a change in mindset from a “period of euphoria to a period of real, measurable, but tough progress” as the enterprise backed by Richard Branson enters the second decade since its founding.

Q&A with George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic

November 1, 2015 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now recently sat down with George Whitesides, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, to discuss the company’s recovery from a fatal crash of its SpaceShipTwo rocket plane on a test flight last year and get an update on its air-launched rocket designed to carry small satellites into orbit.

NASA to fly CubeSats on three new commercial launchers

October 16, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Wednesday it is joining a chorus of companies pushing for easier access to space, awarding $17.1 million in contracts to three firms developing new launchers tailored for lifting lightweight satellites into orbit.