Not many companies are working on commercial space flight due to its difficulty and complexity. Despite that, Virgin Galactic has successfully accomplished its first commercial space mission with a team of Italian researchers.
Virgin Galactic's Commercial Space Flight
According to Mail Online, Virgin Galactic, the company Richard Branson owns, celebrates its first-ever commercial space flight. This brings the company closer to its ultimate goal of space tourism.
Walter Villadei, an Italian researcher, celebrated the accomplishment inside the craft as it reached the edge of space. Villadei was joined by Colin Bennet, an astronaut instructor who was part of the mission.
While achieving the first commercial mission, the researchers conducted science experiments designed for weightless conditions. As such, they could reach over 50 miles from the surface of the Earth.
Richard Branson's Vision
Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic almost two decades ago, in 2004. As such, it was established to build toward space tourism, with the main goal of one day offering commercial space flights.
The Mail Online reports that the goal of achieving the first commercial flight took almost 20 years to accomplish, and now, Virgin Galactic has completed its first "purchased" mission. The success of the mission follows multiple test flights over years of research.
The spacecraft took off at around 8:30 AM local time in New Mexico's Spaceport America. In total, the mission took only 90 minutes before landing back at 11:50 AM.
The mission was carried out with the VMS Eve carrier aircraft, which launched the Unity rocket plane carrying the passengers. First, Eve shot up until 44,500 feet above Earth's surface before it released Unity.
After that, Unity ignited its thrusters, and once it reached space, it shut those thrusters off. As such, the rocket plane opened its wings and hovered in space, just above Earth's atmosphere.
The crew floated along with an Italian flag as they reached space. Mail Online details how they were greeted via livestream by Sirisha Bandla of Virgin Galactic, saying, "Welcome to space, astronauts."
Galactic 01 Mission
Other participants of the mission included Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi and Pantaleone Carlucci. As such, the mission was designed to carry out 13 experiments in a zero-gravity environment.
These experiments included biometric data collection and cognitive performance measurement. Further research also assessed microgravity conditions and their effects on certain liquids and solids.
According to Sky News, Virgin Galactic prices their tickets at $450,000. This was a huge jump from their initially listed ticket prices at $250,000 each.
Richard Branson's approach differs from that of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Instead of capsules, he decided to go with mid-air launches.
Virgin Galactic's mid-air launches take place at 45,000 feet. When reaching this level, the spaceplane is released by the mothership, allowing it to shoot off directly to its destination.
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