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The commercial spaceflight company Virgin Galactic on Tuesday unveiled the piloted spacecraft “VSS Imagine”.
The release of the spacecraft marks the first of Virgin Galactic’s next-generation SpaceShip III-class vehicles.
In a press release accompanying futuristic video footage, the company announced that VSS Imagine – built at Virgin Galactic’s facility in Mojave, Calif. – will begin ground testing with glides scheduled for this summer.
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“The spacecraft showcases Virgin Galactic’s innovation in design and astronaut experience. Imagine also demonstrates progress towards efficient design and production, as Virgin Galactic works to move the business forward for the long haul,” wrote the company. “VSS Imagine will begin ground testing, with glide flights scheduled this summer from Spaceport America in New Mexico.”
Spaceport America is the shopping center of Virgin Galactic.
Shiny and silver with an elegant and revolutionary livery design, the “modular” vehicle reflects its surrounding environment and provides thermal protection.
With a capacity of two pilots and six crew members, both VSS Imagine and VSS Unity – the first Virgin Galactic spacecraft to enter service using the SpaceShipTwo reusable space flight system – take off, falling from a forward carrier aircraft. as their rocket motor takes off and up.
A test model for future space vehicles, Virgin Galactic says the Imagine VSS is designed to “provide better performance in terms of maintenance access and theft rate.”
Introducing VSS Imagine, the first SpaceShip III of the Virgin Galactic fleet
(Virgin Galactic Press)
The company also promised that manufacturing would progress on VSS Inspire – the second SpaceShip III vehicle in its fleet.
“VSS Imagine and Inspire are stunning ships that will take our future astronauts on an incredible journey through space, and their names reflect the ambitious nature of human spaceflight,” said Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic.
VSS Unity is scheduled for its next test flight in May.
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Virgin Galactic is targeting 400 flights per year.
Colglazier told TechCrunch on Tuesday that the team took what they learned from VSS Unity and incorporated what was needed into VSS Imagine in order to run ships at a faster rate and achieve that goal.
Introducing VSS Imagine, the first SpaceShip III of the Virgin Galactic fleet
(Virgin Galactic Press)
More than 600 people have booked a ride so far, at a price of about $ 250,000 per seat, according to Space.com.
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Virgin founder Richard Branson said Virgin Galactic spacecraft are being built to “offer a transformative new perspective” to thousands of people who “will soon be able to experience the wonders of space through themselves. themselves ”.
“As a SpaceShip III class vehicle, Imagine is not only beautiful to look at, but represents Virgin Galactic’s growing fleet of spacecraft. All great accomplishments, creations and changes begin with an idea,” he said. he declares. “Our hope is that everyone who travels in space will return with new perspectives and new ideas that will bring positive change to our planet. ”
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