The one-minute video shows the suborbital space plane, known as VSS Unity, drop from the mothership airplane that carried it into the skies over California’s Mojave Desert, zoom even higher under its own rocket power and roll down the runway shortly after landing.
VSS Unity features a modified feathering system that should prevent such premature unlocking, Virgin Galactic representatives have said.
Credit: Virgin Galactic/www.MarsScientific.com & Trumbull Studios
The six-passenger, two-pilot SpaceShipTwo vehicle was designed to carry people and scientific payloads on brief jaunts to suborbital space.
Customers who take the trip will experience several minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of Earth against the blackness of space.
A ticket to ride the space plane currently sells for $250,000.
VSS Unity fired its rocket engine for 30 seconds yesterday, reaching a maximum altitude of 84,271 feet (25,686 meters) – that’s nearly 16 miles (25 kilometers) – and a top speed of Mach 1.87, Virgin Galactic representatives said.
The flight was the 12th overall for Unity, which Virgin Galactic officially unveiled in February 2016.
The space plane had previously performed seven unpowered glide flights and four “captive carry” tests, in which it remained attached to the mothership, which is known as VMS Eve.
Credit: Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic plans to perform a series of additional powered test flights with Unity.
If all goes well, commercial operations could begin soon — perhaps before the end of the year, Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson has said.
