Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. welcomed astronauts and payloads home on May 22, 2021, after its third spaceflight and the first from its quarters in New Mexico, the company announced in a statement.
- VSS Unity achieved a Mach 3 speed and reached space at an altitude of 55.45 miles.
- It was released from the mothership VMS Eve, which was piloted by Kelly Latimer and Michael Masucci.
- The VSS Unity landed at Spaceport America carrying on its deck Dave Mackay and CJ Sturckow, the first to fly to space from three different states.
- Virgin Galactic said it was able to test several objectives such as revenue-generating research for NASA, data collection, and testing the spaceship’s upgraded horizontal stabilizers.
- The company will proceed to the next milestone once the test data gathered is reviewed, and the spaceship inspected.
- Founder Richard Branson took to Twitter to post a video of him celebrating the development.
Delighted to be on the flightline to watch @VirginGalactic’s first human spaceflight from the majestic Spaceport America @Spaceport_NM #UNITY21 pic.twitter.com/FcpCxJcjqS
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) May 22, 2021
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