Virgin Galactic plans to make the first full commercial flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane on June 29, with three Italians to conduct more than a dozen experiments. Virgin Galactic has announced the date of its “Galactic 01” mission, which will take off from Spaceport America in New Mexico, on June 26. The company had previously announced a window for flight from June 27 to June 30.

The flight is believed to be Virgin Galactic’s first fully commercial mission, although the company has made a small profit by researching payloads on previous test flights.

“Galactic 01 is our first commercial space flight and we are honored to have been selected by the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council to support the first space exploration missions,” said Michael Colglazier, Virgin Galactic’s CEO. “Virgin Galactic’s research missions will usher in a new era of repeatable and reliable access to space for government and research institutions in the coming years.”

The June 29 flight, designated Virtute 1 by the Italian government, includes three Italian payload specialists under the command of Walter Villadei, an Italian Air Force colonel. He previously trained with NASA and Axiom Space for commercial orbital spaceflight and was the backup pilot for the Ax-2 mission to the International Space Station, which flew in May.

Villaday was joined by Angelo Landolfi, a lieutenant colonel and doctor in the Italian Air Force, and Pantaleone Carlucci, a researcher at the Italian National Research Council. They will conduct 13 experiments measuring cosmic radiation before, during and after flight, testing the effects of microgravity on liquids and combustion, and collecting medical data. Villadei will wear an “intelligent flight suit” that will collect biomedical data while testing the design of the suit, which is designed to operate up to 6G.

“We deliver payloads from multiple disciplines on a single mission and use the entire flight profile to gather invaluable data,” Villaday said in a statement.

The Italians will be accompanied in the cockpit by Virgin Galactic’s astronaut instructor Colin Bennett, who will evaluate the research flight experience. In July 2021, he flew on the SpaceShipTwo mission with company founder Richard Branson on board. The overall mission will be led by Mike Masucci of Virgin Galactic, which will make its fourth flight. The pilot will be Nicola Pechile, a former Italian Air Force pilot currently working for Virgin.

In October 2019, Virgin Galactic signed a contract with the Italian Air Force for the mission targeting a flight in late 2020 or early 2021. Following Branson’s flight, Virgin Galactic plans to fly in the fall of 2021 before the maintenance period of both the SpaceShipTwo and VMS Eve mothership begins. However, the company decided to carry out maintenance first and postponed the flight to October 2021.

Earlier this year, Virgin resumed flights of SpaceShipTwo VMS Unity. This included a suborbital test flight on May 25, which was Unity’s first spacewalk since Branson’s flight. Virgin Galactic personnel were on this flight as payload specialists.

The company sees flight as a way to highlight its research capabilities as an alternative space tourism market. “This flight will demonstrate our excellent spaceflight system that allows researchers to fly their experiments and our ability to offer regular access to space for the science and technology community,” said Sirisha Bandla, Virgin’s vice president of government relations and research operations. Galactic, in a statement.

However, much of Virgin Galactic’s business will come from private astronauts who pay up to $450,000 per ticket to fly. The company has about 800 customers for these flights. Virgin said Galactic 02, the first flight with private astronauts on June 15, is tentatively scheduled for early August, with subsequent flights scheduled on a monthly basis.

Donation

Many of these customers could eventually fly in the company’s future Delta-class spaceplanes, designed for much higher flight speeds. Given the company’s meager revenue to date and high operating losses, Virgin Galactic will need to raise substantial funding to develop Delta-class vehicles.

In a June 22 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Virgin Galactic said it had completed the $300 million share sale it announced in August 2022. It also announced plans to sell additional shares worth $400 million, working with Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

According to Virgin, the funds will be used “to develop the infrastructure to scale the spacecraft fleet and commercial operations, as well as for general corporate purposes.” Shares of Virgin Galactic, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, fell 18.4% on June 23, effectively leaving the gains the company has made since announcing its commercial spaceflight plans on June 15. Source