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Excitement Builds for Virgin Galactic’s Seventh Commercial Spaceflight
The countdown is on for Virgin Galactic’s seventh commercial spaceflight, known as Galactic 07. The mission’s launch window is set to open at 8:30 AM MT (10:30 AM EDT or 1430 GMT) on Saturday, June 8. The spacecraft will depart from Spaceport America in southwestern New Mexico.
The Galactic 07 crew will consist of Axiom Space Mission 3 (Ax-3) backup astronaut Tuva Atasever from the Turkish Space Agency, along with three private astronauts. While the identities of the private astronauts are usually kept confidential until launch, Virgin Galactic revealed in a statement that one is from California, one is from New York, and one is from Italy.
This upcoming mission marks Virgin Galactic’s second flight of 2024. The first flight, Galactic 06, made history by sending the first Ukrainian woman to suborbital space.
Securing a ticket for these spaceflights comes with a hefty price tag, typically selling for $450,000. Passengers aboard Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane will enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness and a breathtaking view of Earth that only a select few have experienced.
The Crew and Aircraft
Commander Nicola Pecile and pilot Jameel Janjua will navigate VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic’s suborbital spaceplane. Meanwhile, Commander Andy Edgell and pilot C.J. Sturckow will operate VMS Eve, the mothership aircraft that carries Unity to a high altitude before the spaceplane detaches and ignites its rocket engine.
Research payloads from Purdue University and the University of California, Berkeley will also be on board for the suborbital spaceflight. Purdue’s experiment focuses on propellant slosh in fuel tanks of maneuvering spacecraft, while U.C. Berkeley will test a new type of 3D printing in microgravity.
Virgin Galactic has been flying payloads for NASA’s Flight Opportunities program since 2018 and was recently selected as a contracted flight provider for NASA for the next five years.
Partnership with Axiom Space
Axiom Space, a Houston-based private spaceflight company, has completed three crewed trips to the International Space Station to date. Their fourth mission, Ax-4, is scheduled for October at the earliest. Axiom Space has collaborated with Virgin Galactic on several previous flights.
“Axiom Space’s commitment to enabling access to space and fostering scientific discovery beyond Earth closely aligns with Virgin Galactic’s mission,” said Tejpaul Bhatia, chief revenue officer of Axiom Space. “We are thrilled about this upcoming Galactic 07 flight.”
Ensuring Safety
The Galactic 07 mission follows a previous flight in January where an alignment pin unexpectedly detached from VMS Eve after VSS Unity separated. While no one was in danger during the incident, Virgin Galactic reported the issue to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for investigation to prevent future occurrences.
Virgin Galactic has taken corrective measures to ensure the safety and success of the Galactic 07 mission.
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