Richard Branson‘s commercial spaceflight company – Virgin Galactic – has its first launch today.
Despite the commercial billing, this flight will be carrying crew from the Italian Air Force and National Research Council of Italy, along with a Virgin Galactic astronaut instructor, for a scientific mission.
If this is a success, it will pave the way for paying customers to take their place on subsequent Virgin Galactic flights.
So when is the launch? And how can you watch it?
Virgin Galactic is Richard Branson’s commercial spaceflight company, which has been in the works since 2009
Galactic 01 is a research mission carrying crew from the Italian Air Force and National Research Council of Italy along with a Virgin Galactic astronaut instructor
The project plans to take paying customers in August if this flight is successful
What time does Virgin Galactic launch?
Galactic 01 launches at 4pm BST – 8am PT and 11am ET – on Thursday June 29.
The flight should take 90 minutes, with the aircraft reaching heights of 80km above Earth.
The crew plan to conduct 13 experiments, examining biomedicine thermo-fluid dynamics and microgravity.
They are:
- Col. Walter Villadei
- Pantaleone Carlucci
- Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi
- Colin Bennett – astronaut instructor
How can I watch the Virgin Galactic launch?
Virgin Galactic will be streaming the launch on their website.
The launch will begin with a carrier plane taking the passengers to a height of 15km before the smaller craft will break away.
The passenger jet will be launched from a from a carrier plane at 15km, before ascending on its own to 80km in altitude
What is Virgin Galactic?
Virgin Galactic is Richard Branson’s commercial spaceflight company, which has been in the works since 2009.
Their flights are different from SpaceX and Blue Origin, which perform dramatic vertical rocket launches much like NASA.
If today’s is successful, Galactic 01 could pave the way to tourists going to space on other Galactic flights later this year.
The plane should hover in place for five minutes to let passengers experience zero gravity, and the fantastic views of both space and Earth from the array of windows in the roof and sides of the aircraft.
When is the next Virgin Galactic flight?
After Galactic 01’s mission today, the first flight with tourists is scheduled for August.
Galactic 02 has not had a specific date marked yet, but is due to take place early in the month.
From then on, flights are expected to run once a month according to the company’s website, although they hope to expand their flight schedule within the first year.
