Like two thoroughbreds entering the home stretch and stretching every sinew in their body as they eye the finishing line, the space race between Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Virgin’s Richard Branson is getting more and more intense by the minute.
On Thursday, Virgin Galactic announced that the test flight window for Unity 22 mission opens July 11, which could be the date on which the British billionaire flies, or in a few days after that depending on weather conditions and technical checks.
Significantly, the announcement was made less than a week Virgin Galactic was granted commercial spaceflight licence by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). More significantly, that date is nine days before Bezos’ planned flight with his brother, Mark, the 82-year-old famous female aviator Wally Funk and one as-yet-unnamed guest, who bid $28 million to be on Blue Origin’s New Shepherd that day.
The ‘Unity 22’ mission will be the twenty-second flight test for VSS Unity and the company’s fourth crewed spaceflight. It will also be the first to carry a full crew of two pilots and four mission specialists in the cabin, including Branson, who will be testing the private astronaut experience. The vehicle can climb to an altitude of 90km, giving the passengers a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of the curvature of the Earth.
Apart from Branson, the flight’s other mission specialists will be Beth Moses, Chief Astronaut Instructor; Colin Bennett, Lead Operations Engineer and Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations.
“I truly believe that space belongs to all of us. After more than 16 years of research, engineering, and testing, Virgin Galactic stands at the vanguard of a new commercial space industry, which is set to open space to humankind and change the world for good,” said Branson.
“It’s one thing to have a dream of making space more accessible to all; it’s another for an incredible team to collectively turn that dream into reality. As part of a remarkable crew of mission specialists, I’m honoured to help validate the journey our future astronauts will undertake and ensure we deliver the unique customer experience people expect from Virgin.”
The ‘Unity 22’ spaceflight will also be streamed live globally. Audiences around the world will be able to watch the livestream on VirginGalactic.com and will be simulcast on the Virgin Galactic’s Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook channels.
Following this flight, Virgin Galactic is planning two additional test flights before its first commercial service in 2022. The tickets are already being sold for that, reportedly in the region of USD 250,000 (AED 917,500).
