VSS Unity VF-03

Overview

Destination: Suborbital
Mission: Test Flight

Suborbital Spaceport America Air launch to Suborbital flight

Powered test flight of VSS Unity carrying technology experiments for NASA's Flight Opportunities Program.

Updates

Nosu • May 22, 2021, 3:48 p.m.

Successful test flight and landing of VSS Unity.


SpaceShipTwo

Family:
Configuration:

The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic.

Specifications
  • Stages
    1
  • Length
    18.0 m
  • Diameter
    8.2 m
  • Fairing Diameter
  • Launch Mass
    9.0 T
  • Thrust
    310.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    SpaceShipTwo
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    SpaceShipTwo
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

VSS Unity


Active Human Rated Crew On-board: 2 Crew Capacity: 8
Destination: Suborbital
Serial Number: N202VG

VSS Unity, previously referred to as VSS Voyager, is a SpaceShipTwo-class suborbital rocket-powered crewed spaceplane. It is the second SpaceShipTwo to be built and will be used as part of the Virgin Galactic fleet.

SpaceShipTwo Details

Crew


Frederick W. Sturckow

Pilot - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Aug. 11, 1961
Age: 65

David Mackay

Pilot - configurations.Country.None - ( VG )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Jan. 1, 1957
Age: 69

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic

(VG)

Founder: Richard Branson Founded: 2004 Successes: 62 Failures: 5 Pending: 1

Agency Type:

Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company within the Virgin Group. It is developing commercial spacecraft and aims to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft are air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two.

INFO WIKI
Spaceflight Now

Virgin Galactic flies to edge of space for first time from New Mexico

Two pilots flew Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocketplane to the edge of space Saturday over New Mexico on the first human spaceflight from the company’s new home base at Spaceport America.

Arstechnica

After Virgin Galactic’s success on Saturday, how soon can it fly again?

"We will immediately begin processing the data."

SpaceNews

SpaceShipTwo makes first flight to space from New Mexico

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first flight to space in more than two years May 22, completing the first in a series of four suborbital flights planned by the company over the next several months.

NASA Spaceflight

Virgin Galactic successfully makes first human spaceflight from New Mexico

Virgin Galactic has successfully performed the first human spaceflight from Spaceport America, just south of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, today, using the VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. The WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft VMS Eve…

SpaceNews

Virgin Galactic schedules next SpaceShipTwo test flight for May 22

Virgin Galactic will attempt its next SpaceShipTwo suborbital test flight as soon as May 22 after resolving concerns about the maintenance of its carrier aircraft.

Air launch to Suborbital flight

Spaceport America


Falcon 9
Success
19 hours, 33 minutes ago
O3b mPower 11-13
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

3 high-throughput communications satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) built by Boeing and operated by SES.


Electron
Success
3 days, 10 hours ago
Happily Ever Faster (BlackSky Gen-3 5)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Note: Payload and customer identities were not publicly announced. 5th of the BlackSky Gen-3 high resolution Earth-imaging satellites.


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 22 hours ago
USSF-153
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

USSF-153 is a classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield …


Long March 4B
Success
4 days, 5 hours ago
Yaogan 53-01 to 03/56-01 to 03
Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

6 Chinese military “remote sensing” satellite of unknown purposes.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Starlink Group 15-24
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Spectrum
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Onward and Upward
Orbital Launch Pad - Andøya Spaceport

Second test flight of the Isar Spectrum launch vehicle. This launch will carry 5 cubesats and 1 non-separable experiment as part of European Space Ag…


GSLV Mk II
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
GISAT-1A (EOS-05)
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

GISAT-1A (GEO Imaging Satellite) is an Indian earth observing satellite operating from geostationary orbit to facilitate continuous observation of In…


Electron
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Owl Around The World (StriX Launch 11)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Starlink Group 15-23
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Pallas-1
Success
1 week, 6 days ago
Demo Flight
Pallas-1 Launch Pad - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First test launch of Galactic Energy’s Pallas-1 rocket, with a dummy payload on board.