Virgin Galactic VMS Eve Takes Flight

Virgin Galactic's VMS Eve takes first flight in over a year following maintenance and upgrades.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE5qlfTma7U&ab_channel=TheLaunchPad]

VMS Eve took off at 10:30am PST from the Moajve Air and Space Port in California. The flight lasted 2 hours and 33 minutes and covered 533 miles.

Flight Path from FlightRadar24

On January 13, 2023, Virgin Galactic announced that planned upgrades to VMS Eve were complete and they were preparing to begin ground testing before commencing flight tests. Prior to Virgin Galactic's statement about the test flight the stock market took notice with $SPCE jumping over 13% while VMS Eve was in the air.

$SPCE (Virgin Galactic) Stock from Google

Virgin Galactic's Senior Flight Test Director says that the Unity Spaceship is ready and waiting for VMS Eve to complete its testing.

“Unity is ready and waiting! After we complete system checks during initial flight test, Eve will fly what we call a ferry flight to New Mexico. The team is excited to see Eve and Unity reunited again, and we have some more testing to do with the mothership and spaceship combined. Including more ground testing, glide and powered flight to complete the required validations of the vehicle’s modifications.”

- Kelly Latimer, Senior Flight Test Director