On June 25th the second SpaceShipTwo success flight from Spaceport America was announced by Virgin Galactic. The announcement follows the first completed test flight from the New Mexico commercial headquarters on May 1st, 2020 marking another advancement towards Virgin Galactic’s commercial service.
Mark ‘Forger’ Stucky and Michael ‘Sooch’ Masucci were on SpaceShipTwo Unity’s flight deck; both pilots are commercial astronauts with previous flights into space with Unity. Nicola Pecile and CJ Sturckow were piloting VMS Eve, the company’s carrier aircraft.
The high speeds and glide flight configurations enabled systems that can be observed in rocket boost phases of a spaceflight. This allowed for the team to evaluate vehicle performance and systems for future space flights out of their new operating base in New Mexico. A glide speed of Mach 0.85 was achieved by the spaceship following the release of the mothership VMS EVE at 51,000 ft. Multiple test-points were completed before the smooth return landing at Spaceport America.
A series of data gathering maneuvers were performed with Unity by Forger and Sooch to be verified against comparable maneuvers from previous flights to improve aerodynamic modelling.
Stringent protocols were in place for the test flight to ensure safety in work areas and procedures.
Awaiting flight data review the team will be preparing for the next stage in the flight test program, spaceflights from Spaceport America.
Additional steps to be completed aside from data review include final spaceship customer cabin modifications and detailed vehicle and systems inspections.
Virgin Galactic expressed gratitude towards the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA), White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Albuquerque Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), and the FAA Air Traffic Control Center in Albuquerque for smooth coordination and efficient integration.
“I am thrilled with the team’s hard work to complete today’s test flight successfully. It was an important test that, pending data review, means we can now start preparing the vehicles for powered flight. Our focus for this year remains unchanged on ensuring the vehicles and our operations are prepared for long-term, regular commercial spaceflight service.” -George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham stated, “I’m excited by the continued progress Virgin Galactic has made in New Mexico and confident in their work going forward. Our state has the opportunity to be a leader in commercial spaceflight, and partners like Virgin Galactic are leading the way.”
Release Courtesy to Virgin Galactic
