Virgin Galactic will launch commercial flights to space this month
According to the BBC’s report, the company announced that it plans to make its first commercial flight, called “Galactic 01”, between 27 and 30 June.
Noting that the flight to the “karman line”, which is considered the border between the Earth’s atmosphere and space, will be carried out for the purpose of conducting experiments in a zero-gravity environment, the company stated that 3 people from the Italian Air Force and Italy’s National Research Council members will take part in the flight.
The company noted that the next flight after “Galactic 01”, scheduled for 27-30 June, could be made in early August, followed by regular monthly flights.
So far, 800 tickets have been sold for 450 thousand dollars each for the flight expeditions, which offer the opportunity to watch the space from an altitude of 80 kilometers and be in a zero-gravity environment for a few minutes.
After the announcement, the company’s share values increased by 40 percent.
The SpaceShipTwo test, conducted by the company on December 12, 2020, failed due to the rocket engine not working.
Six people, including Branson, traveled to space on July 11, 2021, with the Unity-2 spacecraft developed by Virgin Galactic.
The company’s “Unity 25” rocket-powered aircraft, after two years of inactivity, climbed to an altitude of 100 kilometers, which is considered the space threshold, over the New Mexico desert with 2 pilots and 4 passengers in May.
