Virgin Galactic

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.

Virgin Galactic does not expect to resume flight tests of its suborbital passenger vehicle until May due to potential electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues from a new flight control computer, CEO Michael Colglazier said during a Feb. 25 call with investors.

UK carrier Virgin Atlantic, which is 49% owned by Delta Air Lines, filed for bankruptcy protection in a New York court Aug. 4. The move comes just

The budding space tourism company's publicly traded shares jumped more than 21% when investors saw a captive-carry transport flight of VSS Unity to its new commercial headquarters at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Systems installation is underway on Virgin Galactic’s second commercial SpaceShipTwo sub-orbital vehicle at Mojave, California, following the

This week: Ryanair cleared for Laudamotion deal; JetBlue signs Airbus order; rising fuel costs hit Delta; passenger demand rises in May; executive changes at WestJet; and Boeing's Q2 orders and deliveries.

The Boeing 747-400 entered service with the airline in 2001 and from flying millions of passengers across the Atlantic over its 15 years of commercial service, it will in the future facilitate a new generation of small satellites which will help us in Virgin Galactic’s mission to open space for the benefit of life on Earth.

One of the highlights of this year’s World Routes Strategy Summit was an interview between event moderator Aaron Heslehurst, news anchor and presenter