Why is Virgin Galactic just now ready for commercial flights?

Yesterday we saw Virgin Galactic complete a final test flight of its whole spaceplane system with the Unity 25 flight. Now, two years after the last “final test flight,” the company is ready to begin commercial flights. Why has it taken so long?

Thursday’s spaceflight with passengers

To get you quickly caught up on the current status of Virgin Galactic, Thursday, May 25, the company conducted a test flight of its VSS Unity spaceplane. This was a full test of the entire system, including powering the rocket engine that takes the vehicle into space.

This test included two pilots, which is usual for all Virgin Galactic flights but also had four crew members. This crew is all company employees and was tasked with testing the customer experience before begging commercial flights.

Didn’t Branson test this on the Unity 22 flight?

Why yes, yes, he did. Two years ago, yes, that’s right, the Richard Branson/Jeff Bezos flights took place two years ago already. Branson was tasked with “evaluating the customer’s experience” on the Unity 22 mission. But, honestly, that was really just an excuse for Branson to achieve his childhood dream of reaching space rather than a critical pass-fail test.

Now from a tourism side of things, you need to ensure the experience is top-notch, especially when the ticket price is almost half a million dollars. Unity 25, by all accounts, was a more extensive test than Branson’s flight, and there are some reasons why a redo would be needed after two years of no flying.

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Why was there a two delay between flights?

While Branson beat space tourism competitor Jeff Bezos to space but only by a matter of days. Bezos’ Blue Origin has flown five more times with a crew, many of them paying customers. Virgin Galactic’s delay wasn’t initially planned, however. The Unity 23 mission was announced, and a crew was assigned with the first commercial customers ready to fly.

However, Virgin Galactic fell into some trouble with the FAA after the Unity 22 flight. VSS Unity, the rocket-powered plane detached from VMS Eve and reached space, flew outside the designated airspace allocated by the FAA. After several months of investigations and discussions between the two, Virgin Galactic announced a comprehensive refurbishment of its two aircraft.

The company stated the refurbishment was planned. However, there is nothing to confirm that. But work by Virgin Galactic’s teams at Spaceport America in New Mexico and Mojave Air and Space Port, California, began on the two aircraft over 2022.

Over the winter, Virgin Galactic began conducting test flights of VMS Eve before performing an unpowered flight of VSS Unity earlier this year. This brought us to this week when Virgin Galactic needed a powered test flight before getting customers on board.

This is why we have another “customer experience” test. After two years, you probably need another evaluation to ensure everything is in top shape before paying customers walk through everything.

Virgin Galactic’s first commercial spaceflight will feature crew members from the Italian Air Force conducting research in microgravity. A capability that is now emerging with the help of commercial spaceflight, whether it’s in orbit or suborbital, there are options for everyone.