The interior of a Virgin Galactic space vehicle.
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Virgin Galactic / Cover Images / SIP
Space tourism company Virgin Galactic on Monday announced a new test flight for its SpaceShipTwo rocket ship.
A decision that comes after the failure of a test flight in early December.
"The window for the flight will open on February 13, with opportunities to fly during the month of February, depending on weather conditions" and the technical progress of the preparations, said the company of British billionaire Richard Branson.
Preparation is underway for a rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity from Spaceport America, New Mexico.
The flight window will open on Feb 13th with opportunities to fly throughout the month, pending weather conditions and technical readiness.
https://t.co/hy18Tg6gkf pic.twitter.com/tiAqJvLkyy
- Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) February 1, 2021
Soon a tourist flight?
“Preparations are already underway at (the base of) Spaceport America, New Mexico, including rigorous steps to prepare vehicles, pilots, crews and infrastructure,” she added.
Two pilots will be on board.
SpaceShipTwo is first carried by a special aircraft and dropped at altitude.
A few seconds later, the ship, half-airplane, half-rocket, ignites its engine for a supersonic ascent.
On December 13, SpaceShipTwo had to turn around due to a technical issue.
"Since then, the teams have carried out an analysis of the causes" of the problem, and "have carried out the necessary corrective work", assures Virgin Galactic.
The company plans to eventually take passengers, capable of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars, to float for a few minutes at the edge of space.
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