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Virgin Galactic completes second test flight ahead of commercial launch The test flight "marks another important milestone as the team progresses toward the launch of Virgin Galactic’s commercial service", the company said Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc  ( NYSE:SPCE ) has completed a second test flight ahead of beginning powered spaceflights from its Spaceport America base in New Mexico. The test flight, following the first flight from its commercial headquarters on May 1, saw its SpaceShipTwo craft, also known as VSS Unity, achieved a glide speed of Mach 0.85 after being released from the mothership VMS Eve at an altitude of 51,000 ft. With space pilots Mark ‘Forger’ Stucky and Michael ‘Sooch’ Masucci at the controls, Unity then completed multiple test objectives before touching back down smoothly for a runway landing at Spaceport America. Earlier this month, the Ric

Wealthy tourist will be the first 'private citizen to step into open space' in 2023 as Russia reveals plans to offer one paying passenger a space walk from the International Space Station The tourist will fly to the ISS on a Soyuz capsule and then complete a space walk They will become the first private citizen to step out of the ISS into open space The tourist will go up in 2023 and step out from the Russian part of the station  No price has been confirmed for this trip but the first space tourist to visit the ISS paid Roscosmos $20 million for the opportunity to stay there for eight days   One wealthy individual is going to become the 'first private citizen' to step outside the International Space Station on a space walk as part of a new tourism deal.  American space tourism company Space Adventures has signed an agreement with  Russia 's Energia space corporation to send someone 'into open space' from the Russian part of the ISS in 2023. The exact price o

Virgin Galactic signs deal with NASA to organise trips for private space tourists to the International Space Station and train them for orbital flight Virgin Galactic will be responsible for finding potential astronaut candidates  They will also examine different options for transporting astronauts to the ISS The company says its expertise in training astronauts for its sub-orbital flights will give it the experience necessary to run the ISS commercial programme  By Ryan Morrison For Mailonline Published: 15:53, 22 June 2020 | Updated: 17:18, 22 June 2020  Virgin Galactic has signed a new deal with NASA that will see the Richard Branson owned firm prepare future commercial astronauts for flights to the ISS.  Under the agreement, Virgin Galactic will develop a new private orbital astronaut training program and look out for potential space tourist candidates. This is a new initiative for the sub-orbital space firm that is expected to start offering paying passengers trips to the v

SpaceX’s astronaut launch marks the dawn of the commercial human spaceflight industry Darrell Etherington @etherington / 10:24 pm BST • May 30, 2020 Comment Image Credits: Joe Raedle / Getty Images SpaceX on Saturday launched two NASA astronauts aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft , and the accomplishment is a tremendous one for both the company and the U.S. space agency. At a fundamental level, it means that the U.S. will have continued access to the International Space Station, without having to rely on continuing to buy tickets aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to do so. But it also means the beginning of a new era for the commercial space industry – one in which private companies and individual buying tickets for passenger trips to space is a consistent and active reality. With this mission, SpaceX will complete the final step required by NASA to human-rate its Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft, which means that it can begin operationally transporting people from Earth essential