Branson's Rocket Plane Back In Space

Watch the Unity vehicle go up to 87.2km. It's like 54.2 miles or 286,000ft high.

The Virgin Galactic rocket plane of Sir Richard Branson is working again. It was not working for nearly two years.

A vehicle called Unity had 2 pilots and 4 passengers. They went high up over the New Mexico desert. They almost reached space. Then they flew back down.

The plane was expected to be in commercial service in June. This outing was supposed to be the plane's last test before that.

Over 800 tickets have been sold by Galactic to people who want to ride above Earth more than 80km (260,000ft).

The company will start working through the passenger list. Unity flights will happen once a month first. They plan to design new rocket planes for service in 2026. These new planes can potentially increase the flights to one per week.

The mission happened on Thursday, only a few days after Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy in April. Sir Richard has won bids to buy their assets.

The business didn't succeed. They tried to launch satellites from the UK in January but it didn't work out.

Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two has completed its first test flight from Spaceport America. The spacecraft, named VSS Unity, flew at a height of 15,000m. It was the first time the aircraft took off from its new base in New Mexico. The company plans to offer commercial space flights to paying customers. The first paid flight is expected to take place in 2021. The company has already sold over 600 tickets for future spaceflights. Virgin Galactic's founder, Sir Richard Branson, was not present for the test flight.

Jamila Gilbert is now inside Unity's passenger cabin and floating freely.

Mike Masucci commanded Unity's latest spaceflight with CJ Sturckow as the pilot.

The car went really fast, almost three times the speed of sound. It went up to 87.2km, which is 54.2 miles or 286,000ft.

Four Galactic employees were seated in the back of the passenger cabin.

Jamila Gilbert, Chris Huie, Luke May, and Beth Moses went to evaluate the upcoming customer experience. Moses is the top astronaut trainer for the company.

In July 2021, Sir Richard went to space on Unity's final mission.

The rocket car and its carrier plane, named Eve, are undergoing upgrades and not in use right now.

Mike Moses, the president of spaceline missions and safety at Galactic, said they were mainly concentrating on Eve, the mothership. Their goal was to have a service life and flight cadence that would allow for more frequent and reliable commercial space travel.

The pylon is the middle part of the mothership that holds the spaceship. It's strong, but needs to be checked every flight. They switched to something that lets them inspect every 20-40 flights. This was explained by someone to BBC News.

The flight operations above New Mexico spaceport got modified. During Sir Richard's 2021 mission, Unity went outside the designated airspace for a little bit. Because of this, the Federal Aviation Administration started a "mishap investigation".

The issue was fixed by making the protected airspace bigger. They also changed how the pilots control the plane. Mr Moses said this will make it more likely for the plane to stay in the center of its flight path.

The picture is from Virgin Galactic. It shows a spaceship in flight. Virgin Galactic is a space travel company. It was started by Richard Branson. The company plans to take tourists to space. The first trip is planned for later this year. The spaceship is called VSS Unity. It can hold six passengers and two pilots. Each ticket costs around $250,000. Many people have already booked their seats. The trip will last around 90 minutes. Passengers will experience weightlessness and see the Earth from above.

. You can see the edge of the Earth from space. It's amazing how small our planet looks from up there. From space, there are no borders or divisions. It gives you a sense of unity with all living beings. It's a reminder of how precious and fragile our planet is. We must all work together to protect it.

Sir Richard has been working to create a spaceliner since 2004. The technology took longer to develop and cost more than expected.

Most people who booked early are waiting patiently. The number of passengers waiting has increased over time.

However, lots of people will have to wait for a long time. It won't be until the middle of the decade when their new Delta-class rockets begin flying. Then, the waiting list will start to decrease a lot.

Unity can't fly high and fast enough to stay in space and orbit the Earth.

The spaceship's goal is to offer a breathtaking view to passengers at the peak of their journey and give them a chance to feel weightless for a couple of minutes.

They start by carrying Unity on a big plane to 15km high. Then, they let it go. Unity has a rocket motor in the back that turns on and sends it up further.

Unity can reach a height of about 90km. Passengers can unfasten seatbelts and float towards a window. The tailbooms of the spacecraft are folded during descent to stabilize the fall. Unity escapes by gliding back home.

In June, Virgin Galactic will have its initial paid voyage with three individuals from Italy. The trio intends to carry out various science experiments, particularly when they reach the peak of Unity's ascent where they'll feel weightless for a couple of minutes.