Facts about the spaceflight

Briefly what this spaceflight is all about:

First, the mothership brings the spaceship up to the altitude of 15 km. The mothership is called WhiteKnightTwo (WK2). The SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is then dropped and the rocket motors will be started. Getting high up to the altitude of 90 km takes only about 60 seconds. The passengers face heavy 4G forces. The speed of sound will be reached in 8 seconds, at its best the vehicle flies three times the speed of sound. Before the flight we complete a two day training, and the third day we take the journey.

Zero gravity

We will float in zero gravity for about 4-5 minutes. The spaceship will then return as a glider to the runway. 

The spacevehicle will carry six passengers and two pilots. Each passenger gets the same seating position with many large windows.

Technical information about ships

WK2 wingspan is 42.7 meters, the length of a wing is 23.7 meters and it is with 4 motors. WK2 is capable of carrying very large cargo to high altitudes. It must be quite exciting to be the pilot here! The WK2 inaugural flight took place on 21 Dec 2008. The wingspan of SS2 is 12.8 meters and length 18.3 meters.

Spaceport America

The Virgin Galactic spaceport is located in New Mexico, USA, and is named Spaceport America. It was completed in 2012. A second spaceport is planned to be built in Sweden and third one to Abu Dabi in the future.

Environment

According to Virgin Galactic, the carbon footprint of a spaceflight is smaller than that of a flight from London, UK to New York, US, per person. Both safety and environmental issues are of top priority.

Flight situation

The first commercial flight was made on 11.07.2021. Regular flights started in 2023. At the beginning there will be few flights, later there will be several flights a week. One rocket, VSS Unity, has flown into space four times. (82,7 km, 89,9 km, 89,2 km and 86 km) Another rocket, VSS Imagine, is likely to fly into space in the near future. More rockets are coming. Virgin Galactic plans to build 6 rockets.

Virgin Galactic astronauts

In June 2023, the space trip has been booked by about 700 future astronauts from about 60 countries. Three Finns have booked a trip. Half of the astronauts come from the United States. The minimum age for flight is 18 years, there is no upper age limit. The price of the trip was initially $ 200,000 and increased from June 1, 2013 to $ 250,000. Currently, the price of new tickets is  $ 450 000.