Virgin Galactic - How to Watch Richard Branson Soar Into the Blue on Sunday

The billionaire space race is about to flag off with Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson ready to soar into the blue on Sunday.

The Virgin Galactic crew will launch from Spaceport America in New Mexico, on board its reusable, winged rocket plane called VSS Unity. It will carry six people, including Branson, to suborbital space.

Streaming

Virgin Galactic is a space tourism company founded by billionaire Richard Branson. The British entrepreneur hopes to make space travel available to a wider audience, particularly the wealthy. He's already sold more than 600 tickets for $250,000 each, and he's vying with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX to become the dominant player in the field.

The company's rocket-powered craft, known as SpaceShipTwo Unity, can carry six passengers. The vehicle can fly up to 50,000 feet, then release and ignite its engines to lift Unity off the ground and into space.

If you want to see what it's like to fly into space, you can watch the launch livestream on the Virgin Galactic website and social media platforms. The livestream, dubbed "Unity 22," will air on July 11, and it's expected to take about 90 minutes to complete.

This is the 22nd test flight for Unity, and it will be the first time that a full crew has been aboard the vessel, with a total of four flight specialists on board: Dave Mackay (chief pilot), Colin Bennett (lead operations engineer), Beth Moses (chief astronaut instructor) and Sirisha Bandla (VP of government affairs and research). The livestream will start at 10:30 AM Eastern time, and the flight should last about an hour.

There have been a few crashes and mishaps since Virgin Galactic began testing its spaceship, but the company has done a good job of keeping the public informed about what's going on. But the company's frank admissions of its risks and the fact that it's still in the flight-test phase have left some viewers wondering if the venture is really worth the money they're paying for tickets.

Ultimately, the company's plans to begin commercial flights next year are likely to attract many more potential customers than it has now. And with more than 700 people already signed up for a trip to space, it's probably a safe bet that the number will grow quickly over time.

Despite these challenges, it's clear that the world has never seen anything like this before. It's a fascinating experience, and it's an opportunity that will likely change the way we think about space forever.

Schedule

Virgin Galactic is a space tourism company founded in 2004 by Richard Branson. The company has been developing a space plane and other infrastructure in anticipation of commercial flights to the edge of space for paying passengers. The plans for the business are to start sending tourists to the edge of space three times a month by 2023, with the main revenue source being ticket sales.

Currently, the company has two vehicles in operation: VSS Unity and VMS Eve, which are refurbished aircraft that carry the SpaceShipTwo and White KnightTwo spacecraft to suborbital flight altitudes of about 50 miles above Earth’s surface. Both are expected to begin commercial service by the second quarter of 2023.

In the meantime, the company is upgrading both of its existing vehicles to ensure durability and reliability for future flights. The work should give the VSS Unity a higher flight frequency and reduce maintenance downtime, which should improve customer satisfaction, according to Virgin Galactic officials.

The upgrades to the VSS Unity and VMS Eve are aimed at bolstering their ability to withstand a variety of environmental conditions during flight. Among the changes is a new system for controlling the braking action of both vehicles’ rocket engines, which should allow the vehicles to take off more easily and perform better during descent.

Another upgrade will add a new fuel cell and other components that will boost the vehicle’s range and allow it to fly higher. The upgrades should also increase the ship’s stability, which would help the ship to fly more regularly once it enters service, according to Virgin Galactic officials.

Additionally, the company announced on Wednesday it had entered into partnerships with aerospace companies Bell Textron and Qarbon Aerospace to build major subassemblies for the next-generation Delta class spacecraft. These Delta ships will be used by paying customers on monthly trips into space.

The Delta class of spacecraft will be manufactured at a facility in Arizona that the company will open in 2025, and the first one will launch in 2026, Virgin Galactic said. The company plans to use these Delta-class spacecraft for space science missions and small satellite launches.

Getting Started

Virgin Galactic, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, is one of several companies vying to develop a space tourism market. Other players include Blue Origin, run by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Space X, owned by Tesla's Elon Musk.

The company recently reopened sales of tickets to the edge of space, at a starting price of $450,000 per seat. The company hopes to begin commercial service in 2022.

Ticket purchases will be open to the public beginning on February 16, according to a press release from Virgin Galactic. The firm said that the sale will provide people with the chance to secure one of the first spaceflight reservations and membership in a unique community called "Future Astronauts."

Members will also enjoy access to money-can't-buy experiences, events, trips and space-readiness activities both pre-and post-flight. The community will be designed to bring “inspiration, excitement, and adventure” from the time of purchase to the moment of flight and beyond.

After two days of training and preparation, you take to the skies in a specially built aircraft, called the Spaceship. During the flight, you experience weightlessness and a view of our planet from 17 windows. You can even take photos!

Once your flight is over, you'll be back on earth and ready to celebrate your success as a real astronaut. Upon returning to Spaceport America in New Mexico, you'll be greeted by friends and family with a champagne toast and an official certificate of completion.

The Virgin Galactic team has been working hard to bring its vision of commercial space travel to fruition, and the latest news from the company is a win for both fans and investors. Previously, the company was targeting the fourth quarter of 2022 for its commercial service to be launched, but that date has been delayed twice due to structural upgrades to the mother ship Eve.

As a result, Virgin Galactic will begin its commercial service in the second quarter of 2023, but the wait is not nearly as bad as it may seem. This is because the company plans to build a fleet of Delta-class space planes that will allow six paying customers to ride into space once a week.

FAQ

If you are one of the many people who want to see a virgin galactic space flight, there are a few things you should know. These include the flight schedule, how you can watch it and how to get your ticket.

Virgin Galactic is a company that plans to offer suborbital flights into space to paying customers. It was founded by British aerospace and music entrepreneur Richard Branson in 2004. He was originally aiming to start commercial flights by 2007. However, the company has been delayed due to a number of reasons including development issues, a fatal explosion during a ground test and a tragic test-flight crash in October 2014.

There are two major players in the space tourism industry: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Both are attempting to send people into space, though their ambitions differ in that SpaceX wants to make it easier for humans to live and work in outer space, while Bezos’s vision is broader and includes a focus on lowering the cost of travel in space.

Both companies use rockets to lift off from a launchpad, and then they use parachutes to bring them back down to earth. Then, the passengers can unbuckle their seats and enjoy a short weightlessness session while looking out at 17 windows below them.

Unlike Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic uses a vehicle called SpaceShipTwo that has a pilot. This makes it different from Blue Origin’s New Shepard, which does not have a pilot and is a fully autonomous spacecraft.

SpaceShipTwo is a suborbital craft, meaning it reaches an altitude of 55 miles above Earth before descending and landing. The company’s website claims that SpaceShipTwo is certified by both NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration.

In addition to the suborbital business, Virgin Galactic had planned to market both SpaceShipTwo and White Knight Two as "small satellite" launch services. It also wanted to market SpaceShipTwo as a commercial research platform.

SpaceShipTwo was a success on its first test flight in 2004, but the following year, tragedy struck when its co-pilot died when the aircraft crashed into a mountainside. The accident was a huge blow for the company, and it was later determined that the co-pilot had made what is believed to be a fatal mistake when trying to slow down.