Virgin Galactic Gets FAA Approval to Fly Customers to Space
June 25 2021 - 7:16AM
Dow Jones News
By Chris Wack
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. said Friday that the Federal
Aviation Administration updated its existing commercial space
transportation operator license to allow the spaceline to fly
customers to space.
The company also said that it has completed an extensive review
of data gathered from its May 22 test flight and confirmed that it
performed well against all flight objectives.
The adjustment to Virgin Galactic's operator's license, which
the company has held since 2016, marks the first time the FAA has
licensed a spaceline to fly customers.
The May 22 test flight of VMS Eve and VSS Unity was the
company's third crewed spaceflight and the first-ever spaceflight
from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The flight achieved a speed
of Mach 3 and reached space at an altitude of 55.5 miles.
After an extensive review of the data collected during the
flight, the company confirmed that the rocket-powered test of the
spaceship's upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls
demonstrated strong performance, in line with predictions. The
cabin environment data was also in line with predictions, it
said.
The flight successfully carried three revenue-generating
research experiments that tested and demonstrated technologies in
microgravity as part of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's Flight Opportunities Program. The pilots flew VSS
Unity on a specific trajectory designed to meet the objectives of
these research experiments.
With the data analysis from the May flight now complete, Virgin
Galactic will continue preparing for the remaining three test
flights, it said.
Virgin Galactic shares were up 5% to $42.25 in premarket
trading.
Write to Chris Wack at chris.wack@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 25, 2021 07:14 ET (11:14 GMT)
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