Virgin Galactic has successfully completed the Galactic 02 mission. Image credit: Richard Branson via X (Twitter)
Virgin Galactic has successfully launched the company’s first crew of tourists to the edge of space.
The journey began on Thursday morning from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
The mission, known as Galactic 02, was the company’s second commercial flight — and the first to carry tourists instead of trained astronauts.
Galactic 02 made history as the first majority female spaceflight.
There were six individuals on board the spacecraft, including astronauts and three private passengers.
Virgin Galactic Founder Sir Richard Branson wrote, “Today we flew three incredible private passengers to space: Keisha Schahaff, Anastatia Mayers and Jon Goodwin.
“Congratulations Virgin Galactic commercial astronauts 011, 012 and 013 – welcome to the club!”
Mayers and Schahaff are from Antigua and won their tickets in a competition.
The pair became the first mother-daughter duo to fly to space together and the first people from the Caribbean in space.
“When I was two years old, just looking up to the skies, I thought ‘How can I get there?’ But, being from the Caribbean, I didn’t see how something like this would be possible,” Schahaff said.
“The fact that I am here, the first to travel to space from Antigua, shows that space really is becoming more accessible.”
Goodwin bought his ticket 18 years ago, before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
He is the first Olympian and the second person with the condition to go to space.
“I’m hoping that I instil in other people around the world, as well as people with Parkinson’s, that it doesn’t stop you doing things that’s out of the normal if you’ve got some illness,” he said in a press conference after the flight.
The launch system consisted of a large airplane called VMS Eve and a smaller spaceplane VSS Unity.
The carrier mothership launched with VSS Unity tucked underneath it before releasing the smaller spaceplane after fifty minutes of flying.
Unity flew to the edge of space at an altitude of around 85 kilometres as planned.
The passengers were given a few minutes to enjoy the feeling of weightlessness.
Live footage showed the passengers unstrapping themselves to float around the cabin.
They successfully landed back in New Mexico just over an hour after taking off.
Virgin Galactic has a backlog of about 800 customers, despite the tickets being advertised for almost $700,000 (US$450,000).
Commercial spaceflight, Galactic 03, is planned for September.
