First four images from Virgin Galactic’s successful new test flight

We’ve had our first glimpse of Virgin Galactic’s new test flight and it’s out of this world.

Aiming to be the world’s first commercial spaceline, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic launched a test flight of its SpaceShipTwo space plane, VSS Unity, on Thursday.

A significant moment for the company and its sister manufacturing organisation, The Spaceship Company, this marks the first test since a fatal accident in 2014, in which a pilot was killed and the SS2 being tested was destroyed.

A reusable space plane designed to carry two pilots and up to six passengers (or research payloads) into suborbital space, the SS2 is Virgin Galactic’s means for “transforming access to space,” for paying customers and researchers, according to the company’s vision statement.  Read more…

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