Virgin Galactic To Begin Commercial Operations This Month

Virgin Galactic has announced their are preparing for the first commercial flight of the SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle in later this month.

The mission, named "Galactic 01," will be carried out on behalf of the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy and is set to take place between June 27 and June 30.

Galactic 01 will launch from Spaceport America in New Mexico and carry 3 individuals from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy to space, as part of a contract signed with Virgin Galactic in 2019.

Galactic 02 is set to take place in early August and will be the first flight to carry private individuals who have signed up for space tourism experiences with the company, paying up to $450,000 per seat.

Specific details about the crew members for Galactic 01 and Galactic 02, as well as the Italian researchers and private astronauts participating in the flights, have not been disclosed by Virgin Galactic. The company stated that crew assignments would be announced ahead of each mission, but no further specifics were provided.

The announcement of the upcoming commercial flights comes after the successful Unity 25 test flight on May 25. This marked the first powered flight of the SpaceShipTwo vehicle in nearly two years. During the Unity 25 flight, the VSS Unity spacecraft, accompanied by two pilots and four company mission specialists, reached a peak altitude of 87.2 kilometers before returning to Spaceport America for a safe landing.

Virgin Galactic aims to conduct monthly SpaceShipTwo flights after these initial commercial missions.