Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first free flight at its operational home in New Mexico Friday morning, marking a new milestone as the space line prepares to carry its first commercial passengers.
The spacecraft, dubbed “Unity,” successfully completed the unpowered glide flight, landing on the Spaceport America runway after being carried aloft by the WhiteKnightTwo mothership and released at about 50,000 feet altitude.
The test flight mimicked key elements of the regular flight profile and was the first time to test all the flight components together in a flight from a new home base and in different air space, Virgin Galactic officials said.
The flight was a test not only of operating in a new place, but also under new protocols in regards to providing protection from COVID-19. These included changes to work areas and procedures to maintain physical distancing and wearing face masks, officials said.
Piloting Unity on Friday were Chief Pilot Dave Mackay and C.J. Sturckow, with pilots Mike Masucci and Kelly Latimer in the WhiteKnightTwo cockpit.
“I’d like to congratulate our team for reaching this flight milestone, especially during these challenging times. I am grateful for the commitment displayed by everyone involved, not only in helping to support relief efforts in both New Mexico and California, but also for the dedication and creativity which will allow us to continue safely towards our goal of commercial launch,” CEO George Whitesides said.
Unity last flew on its own in February 2019, a rocket-powered test flight which carried two pilots and the craft’s first non-pilot passenger to 295,007 feet altitude (55.87 miles) and Mach 3.04 in the rocket boost phase.
As with all the flights prior to Friday, that one was flown from the Mojave Air and Space Port, where SpaceShipTwo was developed and built.
Following that flight, Unity was grounded at Virgin Galactic’s The Spaceship Company in Mojave for months while the interior was outfitted and final preparations were made for commercial service.
The spacecraft was transferred to the operational home at Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico in February, just short of a year since its last flight.
The company has planned for a number of test flights to complete the testing program prior to beginning commercial service. These include a number of captive carry and unpowered glide flights from the new base, to allow the operations team to familiarize themselves with the airspace and ground control, Virgin Galactic officials said.
These will be followed by a number of rocket-powered test flights to continue evaluation of the vehicle’s performance. These flights will also allow for the final spaceship cabin and customer experience evaluations, officials said.
The Spaceship Company remains in Mojave, where it will continue to manufacture additional spacecraft. The WhiteKnightTwo and Unity vehicles are expected to periodically return, as well, in support of testing of the new spaceships and for vehicle maintenance and upgrades.
The Spaceship Company employs more than 500 people at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
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