The space race continues between Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos. While the boss of Amazon had already managed to take 32 tourists into space with his company Blue Origin, Richard Branson has just taken the step by sending his first three customers aboard his space tourism company Virgin Galactic.
Founded in 2004, the American company had already reached space five times, but only with members of the company on board. This time, two senior officers of the Italian Air Force and an engineer from the Italian National Research Council (CNR) were able to travel aboard the VSS Unity spacecraft accompanied by three Virgin Galactic crew members.
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The principle of its suborbital commercial flights is very simple. The crew took off around 8:30 a.m. local time from Spaceport America base in the desert of the US state of New Mexico aboard a huge carrier plane. An hour later, and at an altitude of 15 km, they were dropped aboard a rocket plane, which looks like a large private jet.
800 tickets already booked
It then began a big vertical climb to reach 80 km in height, the limit marking the beginning of space according to the US army. "Welcome to space, astronauts," said Sirisha Bandla, a Virgin Galactic employee who made the trip herself.
Once weightless for a few minutes, the three customers were able to detach themselves from their seats before first unfurling an Italian flag in the cabin, and having fun floating to test gravity. The mission, named Galactic 01, then glided back to land on the same runway.
🇮🇹 Benvenuti nello spazio, #Galactic01! Our crew from the @ItalianAirForce & @CNRsocial_ have reached space. WATCH: https://t.co/5UalYTpQxj pic.twitter.com/rL82pUYzxm
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) June 29, 2023
A real success for Virgin Galactic against Blue Origin. As a reminder, the rocket of Jeff Bezos' company has been grounded since an accident in September 2022 during an unmanned flight. For its part, after a second mission (Galactic 02) in August, Richard Branson's company promises space flights every month. About 800 customers, including a few celebrities, have already bought their tickets for around $450,000 each.
"A new era of repeated access to space"
The space program had been delayed for years, in particular because of an accident in 2014 that caused the death of a pilot. In July 2021, Richard Branson himself made this express space trip to show the progress of his company. But the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) then temporarily grounded the ship to investigate a course deviation during this highly publicized flight.
Virgin Galactic had announced a pause in its operations, dedicated to the improvement of its craft, which lasted much longer than expected. In May, the company finally completed its final test flight before commercial operations began.
Welcome back to Earth, #Galactic01! Our pilots, crew and spaceship have landed smoothly at @Spaceport_NM. pic.twitter.com/f8YQowQN2x
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) June 29, 2023
Presented as a decisive advance for the company, Thursday's flight was also to have a scientific vocation. Several experiments were to be carried out on board (on the behaviour of liquids in weightlessness, the bodily reaction of passengers, etc.). "Virgin Galactic's research missions will usher in a new era of repeated and reliable access to space for government and research institutions," said Michael Colglazier, CEO Michael Colglazier.
80 km away, on Earth, Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin have promised to resume their space flights "soon".