Virgin Galactic Sets Commercial Launch Date as Modern-Day Space Race Heats Up

First flight for paying customers comes as Blue Origin’s New Shepard remains sidelined.

Friday, June 16, 2023 at 02:17 PM ET

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The view from space aboard Virgin Galactic’s Unity 25 mission, which was completed successfully in May. [Courtesy: Virgin Galactic]

Key Takeaways:

A modern "Space Race" for commercial suborbital space tourism is escalating between Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
Virgin Galactic is set to launch its first commercial spaceflight, "Galactic 01," in late June, with plans for subsequent monthly missions, aiming to gain momentum while its competitor is inactive.
Blue Origin, which previously conducted several commercial flights, is currently grounded until late 2023 following a 2022 uncrewed flight mishap and an ongoing FAA investigation.
Both companies offer similar reusable suborbital space travel experiences, making Virgin Galactic's upcoming commercial debut a crucial test to potentially overtake Blue Origin in the market.

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More than half a century after the U.S. and Russia faced off to land the first man on the moon, there’s a new kind of Space Race on the horizon—and it’s heating up.

As Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin contends with a mishap on an uncrewed 2022 New Shepard flight that has sidelined commercial operations until later this year, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic on Thursday announced it’s gearing up for its first commercial spaceflight later this month. The mission, “Galactic 01,” is slated to carry three crew members of Italy’s Air Force and National Research Council into orbit between June 27 and 30.