SpaceShipTwo launch overview

Category: SpaceShipTwo launch overview
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Credit: Virgin Galactic

SpaceShipTwo is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic. The spacecraft is carried to its launch altitude by a Scaled Composites White Knight Two aircraft, before being released to fly on into the upper atmosphere powered by its rocket engine. It then glides back to Earth and performs a conventional runway landing. Virgin Galactic plans to operate a fleet of five SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes in a private passenger-carrying service and has been taking bookings for some time, with a suborbital flight carrying an updated ticket price of US$250,000. The spaceplane could also be used to carry scientific payloads for NASA and other organizations. Learn all about the different manned suborbital spaceflights with the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft from Virgin Galactic thanks to this overview! 

Launch overview SpaceShipTwo

Mission Date
launch		 Spacecraft Launch base Max. height Crew Patch Mission success?
VP-03 13/12/2018 VSS Unity 82,7 km
  • Mark P. Stucky (USA)
  • Frederick W. Sturckow (USA)
 /

Success
VF-01 22/02/2019 VSS Unity 89,2 km
  • David Mackey (UK)
  • Michael Masucci (USA)
  • Beth Moses (USA)
 /

Success
Unity 21 22/05/2021 VSS Unity 89,2 km
  • David Mackey (UK)
  • Frederick Sturckow (USA)
 /

Success
Unity 22 11/07/2021 VSS Unity 87,2 km
  • David Mackey (UK)
  • Michael Masucci (USA)
  • Sirisha Bandia (USA)
  • Colin Bennett (UK)
  • Beth Moses (USA)
  • Richard Branson (UK)
 Unity 22

Success
Unity 25 25/05/2023 VSS Unity 87,2 km
  • Michael Masucci (USA)
  • CJ Sturckow (USA)
  • Beth Moses (USA)
  • Luke Mays (USA)
  • Jamila Gilbert (USA)
  • Christopher Huie (USA)
 Unity 25

Success
Galactic 01 29/06/2023 VSS Unity 85,1 km
  • Michael Masucci (USA)
  • Nicola Pecile (Italy)
  • Walter Villadei (Italy)
  • Pantaleone Carlucci (Italy)
  • Angelo Landolfi (Italy)
  • Colin Bennett (UK)
 Galactic 01

Success
Galactic 02 10/08/2023 VSS Unity 88,5 km
  • CJ Sturckow (USA)
  • Kelly Latimer (USA)
  • Beth Moses (USA)
  • Jon Goodwin (UK)
  • Keisha Schahaff (Antigua and Barbuda)
  • Anastatia Mayers (Antigua and Barbuda)
 Galactic 02

Success
Galactic 03 08/09/2023 VSS Unity 88,5 km
  • Nicola Pecile (Italy)
  • Michael Masucci (USA)
  • Beth Moses (USA)
  • Ken Baxter (USA)
  • Timothy Nash (South Africa)
  • Adrian Reynard (UK)
 Galactic 03

Success
Galactic 04 06/10/2023 VSS Unity 87,4 km
  • Kelly Latimer (USA)
  • CJ Sturckow (USA)
  • Beth Moses (USA)
  • Ron Rosano (USA)
  • Trevor Beattie (UK)
  • Namira Salim (Pakistan)
 Galactic 04

Success
Galactic 05 02/11/2023 VSS Unity 87,4 km
  • Michael Masucci (USA)
  • Kelly Latimer (USA)
  • Colin Bennett (UK)
  • Alan Stern (USA)
  • Kellie Gerardi (USA)
  • Ketty Maisonrouge (Italy)
 Galactic 05

Success

Images: Virgin Galactic

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Kris Christiaens

This article was published by FutureSpaceFlight founder and chief editor Kris Christiaens. Kris Christiaens has been passionate and fascinated by spaceflight and space exploration all his life and has written hundreds of articles on space projects, the commercial space industry and space missions over the past 20 years for magazines, books and websites. In late 2021, he founded the website FutureSpaceFlight with the goal of promoting new space companies and commercial space projects and compiling news of these start-ups and companies on one website.