SpaceShipTwo reaches edge of space on latest test flight
Posted: Sun, Dec 16, 2018, 12:38 PM ET (1738 GMT)
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo flew to the edge of space for the first time Thursday. The vehicle, named VSS Unity, took off Thursday morning from Mojave Air and Space Port attached to its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft. At 11 a.m. Eastern, SpaceShipTwo separated from WhiteKnightTwo and fired its hybrid rocket motor for 60 seconds. The vehicle reached a peak altitude of nearly 83 kilometers and top speed of Mach 2.9 before gliding back to Mojave. Virgin Galactic declared the flight a success and called it its first space flight, noting that it exceeded the altitude of 50 miles used by U.S. government agencies to award astronaut wings even though it did not reach the 100-kilometer Karman Line. Besides testing the performance of the vehicle, SpaceShipTwo carried for experiments for NASA's Flight Opportunities program.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo flew to the edge of space for the first time Thursday. The vehicle, named VSS Unity, took off Thursday morning from Mojave Air and Space Port attached to its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft. At 11 a.m. Eastern, SpaceShipTwo separated from WhiteKnightTwo and fired its hybrid rocket motor for 60 seconds. The vehicle reached a peak altitude of nearly 83 kilometers and top speed of Mach 2.9 before gliding back to Mojave. Virgin Galactic declared the flight a success and called it its first space flight, noting that it exceeded the altitude of 50 miles used by U.S. government agencies to award astronaut wings even though it did not reach the 100-kilometer Karman Line. Besides testing the performance of the vehicle, SpaceShipTwo carried for experiments for NASA's Flight Opportunities program.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, August 2
AST SpaceMobile to Host Second Quarter 2026 Business Update Call on August 10, 2026
AST SpaceMobile — 2:37 pm ET (1837 GMT) AST SpaceMobile Announces Launch Date for BlueBird Satellites 11, 12, and 13
AST SpaceMobile — 2:36 pm ET (1836 GMT) Redwire Corporation to Report Second Quarter 2026 Results on August 5, 2026
Redwire — 2:36 pm ET (1836 GMT) Virgin Galactic Announces Date of Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Conference Call
Virgin Galactic — 2:33 pm ET (1833 GMT) UAE Space Agency: 90-day grace period to regularise status of entities operating in national space sector
WAM — 2:17 pm ET (1817 GMT) |
