Virgin Galactic

Suborbital space tourism provider Virgin Galactic is laying off workers to fund production of the Delta variant of its spaceships, the company said late Nov. 7.

The SwRI's Alan Stern and two other paying passengers joined a Virgin Galactic crew for a short suborbital hop on Nov. 2.

Virgin Galactic’s suborbital spaceship conducted a third commercial mission on Sept. 8, but did not livestream or release the passengers' names before takeoff.

Despite developing Parkinson’s disease, one of Virgin Galactic’s first customers boarded the company’s VSS Unity spaceship for a suborbital ride.

Space tourism company makes room for experiments and prototypes.

Virgin Galactic's spaceplane VSS Unity’s cockpit and structure were enhanced for higher-tempo operations and were tested in June on its first commercial flight.

Axiom, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have all flown privately paying passengers into orbital and suborbital space from the U.S.

Moratorium on space passenger safety regulations is poised to end Oct. 1.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

The Virgin Galactic space company conducted its inaugural commercial flight on June 29.

George Nield, who led the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, talks about managing the risks of private space travel without harming innovation.

The announcement, made in a U.S. regulatory filing late June 22, spurred a 19% selloff of Virgin’s share price by midday regular trading on June 23.

Virgin Galactic is aiming to begin commercial suborbital spaceflight services between June 27 and 30, the company said on June 15.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week. Primary Category: AEROSPACE

Company’s newly refurbished spaceship and carrier jet return to flight.

After a nearly two-year hiatus, Virgin Galactic returned its SpaceShipTwo passenger vehicle into suborbital space on May 25.

Virgin Galactic plans to return to space later this month with a fully crewed test flight of the refurbished SpaceShipTwo spaceplane VSS Unity.

Virgin Galactic completed the first glide flight of the updated SpaceShipTwo spaceplane VSS Unity from Spaceport America in New Mexico on April 26.

Ferrying VMS Eve to Spaceport America clears the way for initial glide and powered tests of the refurbished SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity over the coming months.

Virgin Galactic completed the first test flight of the VMS Eve carrier aircraft at Mojave, California, on Feb. 15.

Virgin Galactic ordered additional inspections after an unidentified vendor contacted the company about a potential problem with its components.

If schedules hold, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson will fly nine days ahead of fellow billionaire entrepreneur and space buff Jeff Bezos, founder and funder of Blue Origin.

The FAA approval clears the way for Virgin Galactic to launch commercial operations using its SpaceShipTwo suborbital launch system.

Virgin Galactic said electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues which stalled sub-orbital tests of its SpaceShipTwo Unity have been resolved but added that the spaceplane’s return to flight could be further delayed by a newly discovered maintenance issue on Eve, the company’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft.

Virgin Galactic unveiled its next-generation reusable suborbital passenger spaceship on March 30, featuring a new design to enhance operations and a mirror-like exterior that adds thermal protection while setting a new bar for aesthetics.