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Virgin Galactic successfully completed a space trip on Saturday, a sign of the progress made by the space tourism company founded by Richard Branson after a series of delays in the company’s flight plans.
The company said that Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity reached an altitude of 89.2 kilometers and then sent two pilots back to the runway in New Mexico. This was its first successful flight in two years. The spacecraft has also conducted research experiments funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Saturday’s launch brings Virgin Galactic closer to its goal of providing commercial space flight in 2022 as it competes with Jeff Bezos Blue origin And Elon Musk’s Space X Start business in nascent markets.
Virgin Galactic has encountered some setbacks, including Fatal crash In 2014, we are on the road to commercial space tourism. The weekend’s launch was originally scheduled to take place in December, but the company cancelled the flight due to electromagnetic interference issues.
In March of this year, one of Virgin Galactic’s biggest supporters, technology investor Chamath Palihapitiya, sold his remaining personal holdings in the company for approximately $200 million.
Palihapitiya still holds shares indirectly through a special purpose acquisition company specifically used for Virgin Galactic’s listing. He said that he will continue to support the company’s efforts and use the proceeds to Climate Initiative.
Virgin Galactic’s stock price has fallen by about two-thirds from its February peak of $62.80, bringing the company’s market value to $5.1 billion. After Virgin Galactic announced its test flight on Saturday, the stock rebounded later this week.
Virgin Galactic plans to complete three other test flights before opening to the public next year, falling behind Blue Origin in the race to send civilians into space. Sir Richard is expected to participate in the upcoming second launch.
Blue Origin recently started bidding for passenger seats for its first commercial space flight, attracting High quotation $2.8 million.
The launch is scheduled to take place on July 20 and will be the first commercial flight to exceed the Kalman Line, which is the internationally recognized boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. Virgin Galactic’s test flight crossed the US standard space boundary.
Last year, SpaceX became the first private company to bring humans into orbit. *
A spokesperson said that Virgin Galactic has received a deposit of US$85 million after selling tickets at a starting price of US$200,000 to book future flights.
*This story has been modified to clarify that SpaceX is the first company to bring humans into orbit rather than into space
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