Alex Arger
Virgin Galactic completes first commercial space flight
Six people were on the Galactic 01 space flight, including three from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy.
LEARN MOREPosted: 8:22 p.m. EDT Jul 14, 2023
Three lucky passengers will be seeing space with their own eyes next month when Virgin Galactic takes its next flight/
On Thursday, the company announced the flight window for its second commercial spaceflight, Galactic 02, will open Aug. 10. This is its first private astronaut mission and its many ticket holders' first chance to come aboard.
The plane can carry six passengers to space, including two Virgin Galactic pilots and three private passengers. It's not clear who the private passengers will be, but hundreds of people from celebrities to scientists have purchased the $450,000 ticket in the last few years.
Virgin Galactic gained approval for commercial spaceflight in 2021. It's now on its seventh spaceflight with the August mission and the third just this year. It completed its first commercial flight to the edge of space in June, with two Italian air force officers and an aerospace engineer aboard.
As for the flight plan, the jet is expected to take off from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. After about an hour, it will make its final push to space, and once there, passengers will be able to float about for a couple minutes before strapping back in for the ride back.
The flight will be livestreamed on the company's website. Further details of the crew and flight manifest will be released at a later date.
