Virgin Galactic Carries 6 People to Suborbital Space on June 9 in Final Flight of VSS Unity.
The Unity spacecraft, attached to the belly of the carrier aircraft Eve, took off from the runway at Spaceport America in New Mexico at 1:31 AM on June 9, according to Hanoi time. It ignited its rocket engine to transport two pilots and four passengers into space, before returning to Earth, as reported by Space. The mission, named Galactic 07, reached an altitude of 87.5 km, marking the commercial suborbital flight of the Unity spacecraft, which will be retired to make way for Virgin Galactic’s new Delta-class spacecraft, set to launch in 2026.
VSS Unity igniting its rocket during the Galactic 07 mission. (Photo: Virgin Galactic).
Tuva Atasever, an astronaut from the Turkish Space Agency, flew in the Galactic 07 mission, introduced by Axiom Space, the company that conducted the private Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with SpaceX earlier this year. Atasever was the backup astronaut on the Ax-3 flight and monitored three different scientific experiments during the Galactic 07 mission. During the flight, Atasever wore a head-mounted device equipped with sensors to monitor brain activity, collecting physiological data, along with a radiation dosimeter and two commercial insulin pens to test the ability to manage insulin dosing accurately in a microgravity environment.
The suborbital flight also carried research equipment from Purdue University and the University of California, Berkeley. Purdue’s experiment focused on propulsion systems in fuel tanks, while UC Berkeley tested a new 3D printing technique in microgravity conditions.
Joining Atasever on the VSS Unity flight were Commander Nicola Pecil and pilot Jameel Janjua. The two Virgin Galactic pilots, Andy Edgel and C.J. Sturckow, a former NASA astronaut, operated the carrier aircraft VMS Eve. After Unity landed, Virgin Galactic revealed the identities of the three paying passengers on the flight: Anand “Andy” Harish Sadhwani from California, Irving Izchak Pergament from New York, and Giorgi Manenti from Italy.
The VSS Unity spacecraft landed at Spaceport America at 2:41 AM on June 9, marking Virgin Galactic’s seventh commercial flight and the twelfth crewed flight overall. In total, Virgin Galactic has flown VSS Unity 32 times, including test flights that did not reach orbit. However, Virgin Galactic has decided to retire VSS Unity to make way for the new Delta-class spacecraft, which is designed for more frequent flights. Similar in shape to Unity, Delta will carry six passengers instead of four as is currently the case. The new vehicle is expected to fly at least twice a week, operating at approximately eight times the speed of the older aircraft. Virgin Galactic plans to conduct 125 flights per year.
