Virgin Galactic’s fourth powered test flight of a SpaceShipTwo mothership took two pilots to the edge of space for the first time. The test was all about proving the spaceship is safe and can one day carry tourists.
Virgin Orbit performed the first captive carry flight of its LauncherOne system Nov. 18. Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, said he expected the first orbital launch to take place in December or January.
The Japanese startup PD Aerospace is developing a reusable space plane that will use a combination of jet engines and a rocket motor to take customers to space by as early as 2023.
Boeing will target the end of this year (or early 2019) for an uncrewed orbital flight test of its Starliner vehicle.
Virgin Galactic has been saying for some time that it will reach outer space this year, and on Thursday it came the closest it has ever gotten.
However, eager spacegoers may want to reconsider rushing to fly. So far, Blue Origin has only flown its New Shepard vehicles eight times with its first launch in April 2015 proving testy.
VSS Unity’s second successful, supersonic, rocket powered test flight. This is the second flight in two months for VSS Unity and it is getting very close to the final goal.
Though just a test, it’s an important milestone for the Richard Branson-led company, which aims to eventually offer suborbital flights to space tourists.
Virgin Galactic’s passenger rocket ship is gearing up for powered flights that could eventually carry paying tourists into space from southern New Mexico, US.
A NASA update outlines what the two participating companies — Boeing and SpaceX — will do to prepare their vehicles for space in the coming year.
Another step closer to the start of space tourism. This version of the six-seat tourist vehicle, Crew Capsule 2.0, notably included windows.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos provided a sneak peek today into the interior of the New Shepard crew capsule, the suborbital vehicle for space tourism.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has an alternative idea about how to pave a commercial highway to space.
It's an exciting time to be alive if you're keen to watch humans get off this planet. A private space race is taking off, opening new pathways to orbit while sparking a burst of technological innovation. Even better, thanks to the magic of internet live streaming, we're watching history unfold in real time.
Spaceship Two (credit: Virgin Galactic) At a joint press conference Monday with Virgin Galactic at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference,
