Virgin Galactic May Attempt a Rocket-Powered Test Flight Next Week
It’s the first rocket-powered Unity test from its new Spaceport America New Mexico base.
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Virgin Galactic plans to do the first rocket-powered test flight of its VSS Unity spacecraft from its freshly christened facility in New Mexico as early as next week, the company . It could launch as soon as December 11th, and would be the first rocket-powered Unity flight since it took a passenger to the edge of space in .
So far in New Mexico, Virgin Galactic has conducted Unity after drops by the carrier plane Eve, but no rocket-powered ones. It had a bit earlier between November 19-23, but those dates were pushed back due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The flight team has a number of objectives in mind, “including testing elements of the customer cabin as well as assessing the upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls during boost,” Virgin wrote in a . The ship will also carry research payloads, including three from NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, following a by the US space agency.
Virgin Galactic plans to do the first rocket-powered test flight of its VSS Unity spacecraft from its freshly christened facility in New Mexico as early as next week, the company . It could launch as soon as December 11th, and would be the first rocket-powered Unity flight since it took a passenger to the edge of space in .
So far in New Mexico, Virgin Galactic has conducted Unity after drops by the carrier plane Eve, but no rocket-powered ones. It had a bit earlier between November 19-23, but those dates were pushed back due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The flight team has a number of objectives in mind, “including testing elements of the customer cabin as well as assessing the upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls during boost,” Virgin wrote in a . The ship will also carry research payloads, including three from NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, following a by the US space agency.
