Virgin Galactic Spaceflight: First Flight from Spaceport America Planned

Virgin Galactic is preparing for its inaugural space mission originating from its Spaceport America location in New Mexico. This facility will serve as the hub for all future commercial operations, and achieving spaceflight from this site is a vital step towards that goal.

Virgin Galactic completed several test flights of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle from New Mexico earlier this year; however, these did not reach space. The upcoming flight, piloted by two of the company’s test pilots and also carrying research payloads within the passenger compartment, is anticipated to occur before the end of the year, potentially setting the stage for the commencement of commercial passenger services in the following year.

Among the future private astronauts is Dr. Alan Stern, a highly respected planetary scientist with an extensive background and currently serving as the associate Vice President of the Space Science and Engineering Division at South West Research Institute. Dr. Stern represents the first researcher selected to participate in a NASA-sponsored scientific mission aboard Virgin Galactic’s commercial spacecraft.

This flight will not be the first commercial venture for SpaceShipTwo. Dr. Stern’s journey is planned for a future, currently unconfirmed, suborbital flight from Spaceport America. During the mission, Dr. Stern will be involved in two primary scientific investigations: monitoring his physiological data using onboard instrumentation and evaluating the effectiveness of space observation from within the SpaceShipTwo cabin using a low-light camera.