Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic has achieved another successful flight, bringing more people to greater speeds and heights in space. Chief pilot Dave Mackay and copilot Michael “Sooch” Masucci launched VSS Unity, also known as SpaceShipTwo, from WhiteKnightTwo, the quadjet cargo airplane that carried the spaceship on February 22 from the Mojave Air & Space Port in southern […]

Nominees for the 2018 Robert J. Collier Trophy comprise a large field of contenders from a diverse array of aviation and aerospace entities, with a total of 11 nominees vying for the prestigious annual award this year. Nominees for 2019 include the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS), Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor, Boeing T-X jet […]

The next test flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo from Mojave Space Port California could happen as soon as today or tomorrow according to a statement from the company. The VSS Unity is expected to carry its test-pilot crew to the beginnings of space. “Overall, the goal of this flight is to fly higher and faster […]

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has once again sent a spaceship aloft. The new SpaceShipTwo craft, named VSS Unity, fired its rocket engine on Thursday for a limited burn following a drop-launch from its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo. Virgin Galactic plans to fly paying space tourists into the microgravity environment of space to enjoy stunning views of […]

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is back in the air and once again making progress toward commercial space travel. Richard Branson’s spaceflight company test flew the new and improved suborbital vehicle over the Mojave Desert on Saturday. It was the first free flight since a 2014 fatal accident in a similar spacecraft. The VSS Unity flew solo […]

There has been a lot of talk of supersonic airplanes of late, with Aerion developing a Mach 1.5 bizjet and NASA working on new technologies to make supersonic flight quieter. Now a new supersonic commercial passenger jet named Boom is emerging. The Denver-based team is targeting a top speed of Mach 2.2, Mach 0.2 faster […]

Mojave, California-based Virgin Galactic announced it will soon unveil the new version of SpaceShipTwo, one of a few commercial space ships currently in development vying to take customers into space. This SpaceShipTwo serves to replace the first version, which tragically crashed in 2014, killing one of the two test pilots. While the new SpaceShipTwo has […]

Peter Siebold, the test pilot who survived the crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo on October 31, shed further light on the mission’s final seconds after telling investigators he didn’t know that his copilot had unlocked the space plane’s feathering re-entry system earlier than planned. The spacecraft broke apart high over the Mojave Desert, killing copilot […]

The test pilot who was killed in last Friday’s crash of** Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo** prematurely unlocked the craft’s feathering tail structure, most likely leading to a catastrophic inflight breakup high over the Mojave Desert, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Acting NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart said the error was made by 39-year-old copilot Michael […]

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane suffered a “serious anomaly” over the California desert on Friday morning, breaking up and crashing. One pilot died and one was seriously injured. The reported problem came after SpaceShipTwo fired its rocket engine in flight for the first time in more than nine months. Two pilots fly in SpaceShipTwo’s cockpit […]