Mission Flew Group of ‘Founder’ Astronauts, Among Virgin Galactic’s First Customers
‘Galactic 04,’ the Company’s Next Commercial Spaceflight Planned for Early October
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) (“Virgin Galactic” or the “Company”) today announced the completion of its second private astronaut flight, ‘Galactic 03.’ The mission flew three of Virgin Galactic’s first customers.
‘Galactic 03′ was Virgin Galactic’s fourth successful spaceflight in the past four months, and the third flight of Virgin Galactic’s inaugural commercial spaceflight season. The flight followed the Company’s first research mission in June and first private astronaut mission in August.
Onboard ‘Galactic 03’:
- Astronaut 014 Ken Baxter from the United States of America
- Astronaut 015 Timothy Nash from South Africa, and British Citizen
- Astronaut 016 Adrian Reynard from the United Kingdom
Spaceship VSS Unity was piloted by Commander Nicola Pecile and Pilot Michael Masucci; Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses was also on board. Mothership VMS Eve was piloted by Commander Jameel Janjua and Pilot Kelly Latimer.
‘Galactic 03′ in-flight facts:
- Take-off Time: 8:34 AM MT
- Altitude at Release: 44,867 feet
- Apogee: 55 miles
- Top Speed: Mach 2.95
- Landing Time: 9:36 AM MT
Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said: “What a thrilling day for our three new private astronauts and the entire team at Virgin Galactic. It’s an honor to see our ‘Galactic 03′ crew realize their lifelong dreams of spaceflight as they inspire our manifest of Future Astronauts. Each successful flight shows how powerful and personally transformative space travel can be, and we look forward to scaling our operations and making space travel more accessible to people around the world.”
The Company will now proceed with post-flight inspections and analysis in preparation for the next commercial space mission, ‘Galactic 04,’ which is planned for early October.
Press materials may be accessed via the newly launched Virgin Galactic Newsroom athttps://press.virgingalactic.com, including:
- Full catalog of hi-res imagery and b-roll from all flights
- Pilot bios
