Tag: Space

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NASA, Boeing delay the first crewed flight test of the Starliner capsule…again

Boeing and NASA said Thursday that the first crewed flight test of the Starliner capsule would be further delayed due to a new crop of technical issues with the spacecraft.

The first crewed mission was scheduled to fly two NASA astronauts on July 21 after being pushed back from an earlier April launch date. Officials did not provide a new launch date during a media briefing, though Boeing’s VP of commercial crew, Mark Nappi, said leadership would spend the next week or so figuring out a plan to ensure the capsule is safe for flight.

Nappi said Boeing engineers discovered two new issues with Starliner: one related to the parachute systems and another with the tape that wraps around wire harnesses in the spacecraft. He said that data on the parachutes’ load limits was recorded incorrectly, leading engineers to discover that some sections of the parachute had a lower failure load limit than was previously identified. Separately, engineers discovered that the aforementioned tape was flammable.

“That tape was tested late in the process,” he said.

The tape was present on the spacecraft that flew in the Starliner’s only mission, an uncrewed flight test that took place a little over a year ago. The parachute system also flew on that mission. It was only during a more detailed review that the issues were discovered, Nappi said.

Nappi said he thought a launch at some point this year was feasible, but he substantially hedged his statement. “I think it’s feasible, but I certainly don’t want to commit to any dates or timeframes until we spend the next several days understanding what we need to go do,” he said.

Boeing has spent years developing Starliner, a crewed capsule that is supposed to join SpaceX’s Dragon capsule in transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station for customer NASA. (Both Boeing and SpaceX were awarded astronaut transportation contracts from NASA for a set number of missions.) But while SpaceX has nearly completed all of its six contracted missions for the space agency, Boeing has been beset with seemingly unending technical delays – the costs of which the company must bear, due to the fixed-cost structure of its contract.

“The bottom line here is: safety is always our top priority,” Nappi said. “It’s always been that way with human spaceflight. And so that’s what drives this decision. You can say we’re disappointed because it means a delay, but the team is proud that we’re making the right choices.”

He added that there are “growing pains” in developing a vehicle and that Boeing has no intention of walking away from its commercial crew ambitions anytime soon.

NASA, Boeing delay the first crewed flight test of the Starliner capsule…again by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

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Rocket Lab’s private mission to Venus slips to 2025

Rocket Lab’s mission to Venus, which was originally scheduled to launch last month, is “not imminent,” a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. That means the mission will likely move ahead no earlier than January 2025, the only publicly stated back-up window for launch.

“Our focus right now is on delivering customer missions as a priority,” the spokesperson said. They did not provide any further reasons for the slip.

Rocket Lab announced it would go to Venus last August, in what will be the first fully private mission to the yellow planet. The company will fund the mission, while a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other organizations contributed to the scientific payload. The company plans on using its small Electron rocket and Photon spacecraft to send a very tiny probe to around 30 feet above the surface of Venus, where atmospheric conditions are most similar to that of Earth.

Indeed, everything about the mission is compact and ambitious. The probe, which will measure just 40 centimeters in diameter, will search for organic chemicals in Venus’s clouds — or in other words, signs of life and suggestions of habitable conditions for supporting life. After spending only five minutes flying through the clouds, the probe will slowly lose altitude until it hits the surface of Venus around an hour after atmospheric entry.

One of the other primary goals of the mission, according to a paper detailing the mission parameters, is to further mature the high-energy Photon spacecraft. Photon is Rocket Lab’s workhorse spacecraft, but this high-energy variant is specifically designed for deep space missions.

Rocket Lab developed the high-energy Photon for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission for NASA, which launched in June 2022. The company will also use this upper stage variant for a NASA mission to Mars next year.

What sets the high-energy Photon apart from the other variants that Rocket Lab sells — for example, as a satellite bus to startups like Varda Space — is that its capable of long-duration interplanetary cruising. The upcoming mission to Mars, and the mission to Venus in 2025, are likely only the tip of the iceberg for Rocket Lab’s ambitions.

Rocket Lab’s private mission to Venus slips to 2025 by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

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More SpaceX Starlink terminals will go to Ukraine following new order from Pentagon

The Department of Defense said Thursday it is buying more Starlink terminals from SpaceX for use in Ukraine, as the conflict between that country and Russia wages well into its second year.

The Pentagon provided little other details about the order, however, including the number of terminals it would purchase or pricing. SpaceX did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.

“Satellite communications constitute a vital layer in Ukraine’s overall communications network and the department contracts with Starlink for services of this type,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “However, for operational security reasons and due to the critical nature of these systems, we do not have additional information regarding specific capabilities, contracts, or partners to provide at this time.”

Russian armed forces have repeatedly targeted internet and mobile networks in Ukraine – including attacking fiber optic cables, cell phone towers, and radio antennas. At times, these campaigns that have left parts of the country in temporary communication blackouts. Starlink, however, has comparatively little ground infrastructure beyond each small terminal, making it more resilient to attack.

Last October, Ukrainian politician Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted that the country was able to quickly restore communications to critical areas after a series of Russian cruise missile attacks thanks to Starlink.

SpaceX first sent Starlink terminals to Ukraine at the very beginning of the conflict, with CEO Elon Musk saying on Twitter that SpaceX was footing the bill for their ongoing operation. Those costs were later picked up by several EU countries, after Musk threatened to stop financing them (though he later rescinded that statement).

The news comes as the Pentagon separately announced that it would send more equipment to Ukraine – including munitions and missiles – in a security assistance package valued at $300 million. In total, the U.S. has provided $37.6 billion in weapons and other assets to Ukraine’s military since the start of Russia’s invasion.

More SpaceX Starlink terminals will go to Ukraine following new order from Pentagon by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

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Pixxel’s hyperspectral orbital imagery attracts investment from Google

Hyperspectral imagery startup Pixxel has closed $36 million in funding as it prepares to roll out new remote sensing and analytics capabilities to customers.

The L.A. and Bangalore-based startup also scored a new strategic investor: Google, the tech giant that’s as well known for its mapping products as it is for its search engine. While Google led the Series B funding round, this does not mark the start of its relationship with Pixxel, CEO Awais Ahmed said in a recent interview.

“We were already working with them as a client before this,” he explained, with an AI research team from Google employing Pixxel’s hyperspectral data in agricultural applications. Google also rolled out its Earth Engine last year, a powerful tool that gives governments and businesses access to a massive trove of Earth observation data from hundreds of sensors in orbit. Many of Pixxel’s users separately use Earth Engine, Ahmed said, and the ultimate goal is to integrate the startup’s data onto that service.

Hyperspectral imaging uses a spectrometer to identify the spectral signature of objects. Taken from space, this type of imaging unlocks an enormous degree of insight into our planet – from detecting gas leaks to identifying specific types of minerals or plants. Pixxel has been developing this technology since 2019, and it put three demonstration satellites into orbit last year.

The startup has been selling data to a number of customers, including the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. But “to increase the capacity and to actually reach a point that we can be self-sustaining with revenue,” Ahmed said, Pixxel’s team is now focused on launching its next-gen Firefly constellation. Those satellites will be able to provide 5-meter resolution over most of the Earth, as opposed to 10-meters from the demo satellites. (Ahmed points out that even 10-meters is the highest resolution hyperspectral sensor that’s ever operated in space.)

The Fireflies also have a longer lifespan: from two years to seven years. They are heftier too – 50 kilograms versus 15 kilograms – likely due to increased on-board propulsion. A trio of Firefly satellites will launch in early 2024 with SpaceX, and Pixxel plans to launch another three satellites shortly after. The company intends to launch 18 additional satellites by 2025.

Pixxel’s other major focus has been developing the Aurora analytics platform, which will allow customers to identify the spectral signature of an object with a click of a button. Different model tools will be built-in to the platform, like a crop species identification model, a cloud removal model, and a model to notify about gas leaks. Customers can use Aurora to track specific areas over time and to generate weekly reports on changes over those periods.

“It’s important for us to not just dump data down to our customers and have them figure it out themselves,” Ahmed said. “There’s very few people in the world with the skill set to actually analyze hyperspectral data so we realized to actually open it up to a lot more customers than would be possible without it, we will build and put the Aurora platform out.”

Crucially, the new capital gives Pixxel enough runway to focus on execution and generating revenue, and not falling to the “valley of death” that annihilates many startups, Ahmed said. The $36 million will see through the manufacturing of the first six Firefly satellites and the first launch next year, as well as the development of the Aurora platform.

Ahmed also revealed that some of the cash is going to development of the next version of its satellites, called Honeybees, which will be even larger and provide even greater resolution. In addition to Google, existing investors Radical Ventures, Lightspeed, Blume Ventures, GrowX, Sparta and Athera also participated in the round. Pixxel has now raised $71 million to-date.

Ahmed said he could foresee a future where hyperspectral is as accessible to the average person as optical satellite imagery is today.

“Right now, you go to Google Earth and look at your houses and roads,” he said. But in the future, one may be able to easily access hyperspectral data to “go to a particular area and see how much metal has changed or how much forest has decreased, or be able to hover over something and identify [it].”

“I think that’s the future.”

Pixxel’s hyperspectral orbital imagery attracts investment from Google by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

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Welcome home, Ax-2 crew: Axiom Space concludes second private mission to ISS

Axiom Space‘s second private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) concluded late Tuesday, with a four-person crew splashing down off the west coast of Florida around 11 PM EST.

The splashdown marks another win for Axiom, the private company that operated the mission, and SpaceX, which launched and returned the crew inside a Dragon crew capsule. This was Axiom’s second private human spaceflight mission to the ISS and SpaceX’s tenth time launching humans to the orbital lab and back.

“SpaceX, we would like to tell you, that was a phenomenal ride,” mission commander Peggy Whitson said shortly after splashdown. “We really enjoyed all of it.”

SpaceX Axiom Space Ax-2 splashdown

Image credit: SpaceX

The Ax-2 crew includes Whitson, former NASA astronaut and Axiom’s director of human spaceflight; pilot John Shoffner; and Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, both astronauts from Saudi Arabia. Alqarni and Barnawi are the first Saudi astronauts to visit the ISS. Whitson has now spent a total of 674 days in space – a record for any other American or woman.

While aboard the ISS, the Ax-2 crew conducted over twenty experiments and brought back more than 300 pounds of return material and data.

Axiom Space’s first mission, Ax-1, took place in April 2022 and lasted for a total of 17 days. The company wants to be the go-to mission provider for governments, private enterprises, and even individuals looking to spend time on the orbital lab. This most recent crew reflects Axiom’s business plan perfectly: an ultra-experienced former NASA astronaut at the helm, along with a private wealthy individual who paid for his ticket and two government customers.

Axiom doesn’t plan on just providing mission support: the company’s longer-term goal is to operate its own commercial space station. Axiom’s plan is to launch two pressurize modules and attach them to the ISS sometime around 2025; those modules would eventually detach and become a free-floating Axiom Station once the ISS is decommissioned in 2030.

Rewatch the splashdown in the video below.

Welcome home, Ax-2 crew: Axiom Space concludes second private mission to ISS by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

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Hubble Network wants to connect a billion devices with space-based Bluetooth network

Bluetooth-enabled devices are ubiquitous, but how those devices are used is constrained by the relatively short range provided by Bluetooth technology. Seattle-based startup Hubble Network wants to completely upend that status quo, by launching a satellite network that any Bluetooth-enabled device can connect to, anywhere in the world.

The company’s aim is to build out a constellation of 300 satellites that can provide real-time updates for any sensor or device outfitted with a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) chip. On its website, Hubble proposes use-cases that span industries – from child safety to pallet tracking to environmental monitoring. The startup’s ultimate goal is to connect over a billion devices on its network.

Hubble Network CEO Alex Haro says the company has engineered “technical tricks” to make this scale of connectivity possible for the first time, like lowering the bitrate, or the amount of data transferred per second. Hubble has also rethought the design of the satellite antenna. Instead of sticking a single antenna on the side of a satellite bus, the company is using hundreds of antennae per satellite. This means that each satellite can support millions of connected devices.

“That is essentially a huge magnifying glass onto the surface of the earth that’s able to detect these very weak radio signals coming out of the Bluetooth chips, and that’s what enables you to actually decipher and receive the Bluetooth signal,” Haro explained.

The result is a radio signal that can be detected around 1,000 kilometers away – or almost 10 orders of magnitude longer than what can be detected from a Bluetooth chip over terrestrial networks.

Hubble Network plans to launch an initial batch of four satellites on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 ride share mission in January 2024, and onboard early pilot customers after. The startup is fully funded through this mission, Haro said, thanks to a $20 million Series A round that closed in March. That round was led by Transpose Platform, with additional participation from 11.2 Capital, Y Combinator, Yes.VC, Convective Capital, Seraphim Space, Type One Ventures, Soma, AVCF5, Space.VC, Jett McCandless, John Kim, Chris Nguyen, Alan Keating, and Don Dodge.

Hubble’s founders are no strangers to the wide world of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and services. Haro co-founded Life360, a location sharing and communication app for families, and saw the company through its listing on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2019. While working as Life360’s chief technology officer, Haro said he was always looking to build useful hardware for families, too: fall detectors for elderly parents or GPS watches for kids. But the kind of network he was looking for to support these devices – one that had “low bandwidth, infrequent updates, but […] globally accessible, very battery and cost efficient,” as Haro described it – didn’t exist.

While mulling these issues, he met Ben Wild, who is now Hubble’s CTO. Wild had previously founded Iotera, a company that was working on a crowd-sourced wireless network, and that was eventually sold to Ring (which was later bought by Amazon). Haro and Wild realized they could build the network they were looking for in space.

The pair brought in a third cofounder, aerospace engineer John Kim, whose career has spanned developing spacecraft systems at SSL, a subsidiary of Maxar Technologies, to aerospace consulting work. The trio officially incorporated Hubble Network in October 2021 and joined Y Combinator’s Winter 2022 cohort.

“All three of us came together with this vision to connect any off the shelf Bluetooth chip directly to a satellite and really enable this network that will work anywhere in the world and be very battery and cost efficient,” Haro said. “We think that will unlock a whole bunch of really cool use cases.”

John Kim and Hubble engineers with the payload after it passed the first round of qualification testing. Image Credits: Hubble Network (opens in a new window)

After launching four satellites next January, Hubble plans to build out its constellation to 68 satellites total over the next two-and-a-half years. While the first four satellites will provide global coverage on their own, Haro said that it will be about a six hour gap until devices can update on the ground. Increasing the constellation to 68 birds means that a satellite will be overhead every 15 minutes or so – an update rate that is sufficient for “the vast majority” of customer use-cases, Haro said.

While Hubble is clearly targeting existing Bluetooth devices – of which billions exist all over the world already – Haro is confident that the company’s network will solicit developers to build applications that don’t even exist yet.

“Eventually, if this network does exist, we think some of our biggest customers haven’t even incorporated yet because they haven’t been able to build these kinds of devices,” he said.

Hubble Network wants to connect a billion devices with space-based Bluetooth network by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

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Max Q: Galactic

Hello and welcome back to Max Q! Happy Memorial Day everyone.

In this issue:

  • Astranis’ novel approach to GEO satellites
  • Virgin Galactic’s return to the skies
  • News from SpaceX, and more

Astranis’ novel approach to internet satellites is starting to pay off

Astranis, a satellite internet startup based in San Francisco, said Wednesday that its first spacecraft completed a milestone test and will start bringing broadband access to rural Alaskans as soon as mid-June.

It’s a major step for the company, which was founded in 2015 by John Gedmark and Ryan McLinko. By taking a first principles approach to satellite development, the pair bet that they could make a smaller, cheaper spacecraft for geosynchronous orbit — the orbit farthest from Earth and arguably the most inhospitable — and use them to bring internet to millions, or even billions, of people around the globe.

Their bet is paying off: The company’s first satellite, Arcturus, launched on a Falcon Heavy at the end of April. Within less than two minutes after separating from the rocket’s upper stage, the spacecraft started sending telemetry and tracking data to Astranis engineers. From there, the satellite connected to an internet gateway in Utah and communicated with multiple user terminals in Alaska for the first time.

astranis team

Image Credits: Astranis

Following successful mission, Virgin Galactic targeting June for first commercial spaceflight

Following a successful flight to the edge of space, space tourism company Virgin Galactic says it is ready to enter commercial service in June.

Virgin Galactic’s aircraft, VMS Eve, departed the New Mexico launch site carrying a crew of six (plus two aircraft pilots) at around 9:15 a.m. MT. The VSS Unity spaceplane dropped from the wing of the jet a little over an hour later, taking off to suborbital space at an altitude of 44,500 feet. The entire mission lasted around 90 minutes.

The mission, called Unity 25, concludes a nearly two-year pause in operations for the company. That last flight, which took place in June 2021, also took six people to suborbital space, including company founder billionaire Richard Branson. While Virgin Galactic did not broadcast the Unity 25 mission, the company kept followers updated on social media. NASA Spaceflight, a private news website with massive followings on YouTube and Twitter, unofficially livestreamed the flight.

Image Credits: Virgin Galactic

More news from TC and beyond

  • Fleet Space raised $33 million to grow its space-based mineral prospecting business. (SpaceNews)
  • Gitai, a Tokyo-based startup, wants to use robots as the labor force for the moon and Mars. (TechCrunch)
  • NASA is still working on construction of Mobile Launcher 2 for the next Space Launch System mission (Artemis II), with steel arriving at Kennedy Space Center. (Bechtel)
  • NASA’s Office of the Inspector General found dismaying cost overruns with the Artemis program, and in particular the development of the Space Launch System and the RS-25 rocket engines. (OIG)
  • Satellite Vu, a thermal imaging startup, closed a new tranche of funding ahead of its first launch. (TechCrunch)
  • SpaceX will join the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration as a co-defendant in a lawsuit filed against the regulator over environmental effects of the Starship launch program. (CNBC)
  • South Korea launched a domestically built rocket to space. (Reuters)
  • SkyFi lets anyone order satellite imagery from their smartphone. (TechCrunch)
  • The Spaceport Company demonstrated the potential for off-shore rocket launches in partnership with Evolution Space. (Evolution)
  • TRL11 closed pre-seed funding to further develop video solutions for the space environment. (TRL11)
  • Ursa Major won a contract with the U.S. Air Force to continue the development of two massive engines, one for space launch and one for hypersonics. (DefenseNews)
  • Virgin Orbit’s launch business was sold for parts to Rocket Lab, Stratolaunch and Vast. (TechCrunch)

 

Max Q is brought to you by me, Aria Alamalhodaei. If you enjoy reading Max Q, consider forwarding it to a friend. 

Max Q: Galactic by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

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Following successful mission, Virgin Galactic targeting June for first commercial spaceflight

Following a successful flight to the edge of space on Thursday, space tourism company Virgin Galactic says it is ready to enter commercial service in June.

Virgin Galactic’s aircraft, VMS Eve, departed the New Mexico launch site carrying a crew of six (plus two aircraft pilots) at around 9:15 a.m. MT. The VSS Unity spaceplane dropped from the wing of the jet a little over an hour later, taking off to suborbital space at an altitude of 44,500 feet. The entire mission lasted around 90 minutes.

Thursday’s mission, called Unity 25, concludes a nearly two-year-long pause in operations for the company. That last flight, which took place in June 2021, also took six people to suborbital space, including company founder billionaire Richard Branson. While Virgin Galactic did not broadcast the Unity 25 mission, the company kept followers updated on social media. NASA Spaceflight, a private news website with massive followings on YouTube and Twitter, unofficially livestreamed the flight.

The Unity 25 crew included Virgin employees Jamila Gilbert, Christopher Huie, Luke Mays and Beth Moses. The VSS Unity spaceplane was piloted by Mike Masucci and CJ Sturckow, while VMS Eve was commandeered by Jameel Janjua and Nicola Pecile.

“The ‘Unity 25’ mission was a fantastic achievement for everyone at Virgin Galactic,” CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement. “Witnessing our inspiring crew’s pure joy upon landing, I have complete confidence in the unique astronaut experience we have built for our customers. Our teams now begin post-flight analysis as well as preparation for ‘Galactic 01,’ our commercial research mission, planned for late June.”

The successful flight marks a crucial step for the company, which says it is now finally ready to enter commercial operations as soon as next month. Virgin Galactic said in a statement that it had achieved the two main mission objectives: conducting a final assessment of VMS Eve and VSS Unity and evaluating the astronaut training and spaceflight experience. That commercial flight will carry three officers for the Italian Air Force, part of a contract announced in 2019.

Virgin Galactic has been beset by years of technical snafus and regulatory delays. The company has reportedly burned nearly $1.5 billion since 2018, though it still has around $1 billion in runway. Virgin Galactic eventually aims to conduct a flight once per week using its underdevelopment Delta-class suborbital spaceplanes, at a ticket price of around $450,000.

Virgin Galactic is distinguished from Virgin Orbit, a commercial company also founded by Branson that is in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings. Virgin Galactic is a space tourism company, while Virgin Orbit had aspirations to deliver small spacecraft payloads to orbit.

Following successful mission, Virgin Galactic targeting June for first commercial spaceflight by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

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No tears, only launches now: Virgin Galactic heads back to space as Virgin Orbit goes under

In space, no one can hear you cry. That’s probably why Virgin Galactic is headed up there so soon after the untimely demise of its sister company, Virgin Orbit — currently being salvaged for parts. After a nearly two year hiatus, the space tourism company is ready to fly again and plans to do so tomorrow morning.

Virgin Galactic’s first flight was back in 2021, carrying crew from the company and founder Richard Branson. While it was by most accounts a success, the FAA took issue with a deviation from the flight plan and grounded the company for a short while.

Since then the company has been working on updating its flight hardware and infrastructure to support its ambitious plan to eventually offer suborbital flights to the edge of space on a daily basis. As Mike Moses, now president of spaceline missions and safety, told me shortly after 2021’s launch, it’s partly building and adapting the spacecraft themselves, but also streamlining their processes for inspections and so on.

The schedule they were hoping for was definitely not what actually took place, and the company has been pouring money into the endeavor with basically no revenue since then, but as one of very few space tourism companies actually flying, the potential for income in the medium term is pretty significant. Their investors don’t seem too spooked, outwardly at least.

Tomorrow’s launch will carry Virgin Galactic employees Jamila Gilbert, Christopher Huie, Luke Mays, and Beth Moses, plus the two pilots, Mike Masucci and CJ Sturckow.

As before, the “mothership” VMS Eve will take off traditionally and take the spacecraft VSS Unity to 50,000 feet, where the latter will detach and rocket to the edge of space before gliding to a landing back at the Spaceport in New Mexico.

Takeoff is scheduled for 8 AM Mountain time, 7 AM Pacific. They aren’t doing live video of the launch, but Virgin Galactic said they’ll provide frequent updates and we will add any relevant new info to this post.

No tears, only launches now: Virgin Galactic heads back to space as Virgin Orbit goes under by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch

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No tears, only launches now: Virgin Galactic heads back to space as Virgin Orbit goes under

In space, no one can hear you cry. That’s probably why Virgin Galactic is headed up there so soon after the untimely demise of its sister company, Virgin Orbit — currently being salvaged for parts. After a nearly two year hiatus, the space tourism company is ready to fly again and plans to do so tomorrow morning.

Virgin Galactic’s first flight was back in 2021, carrying crew from the company and founder Richard Branson. While it was by most accounts a success, the FAA took issue with a deviation from the flight plan and grounded the company for a short while.

Since then the company has been working on updating its flight hardware and infrastructure to support its ambitious plan to eventually offer suborbital flights to the edge of space on a daily basis. As Mike Moses, now president of spaceline missions and safety, told me shortly after 2021’s launch, it’s partly building and adapting the spacecraft themselves, but also streamlining their processes for inspections and so on.

The schedule they were hoping for was definitely not what actually took place, and the company has been pouring money into the endeavor with basically no revenue since then, but as one of very few space tourism companies actually flying, the potential for income in the medium term is pretty significant. Their investors don’t seem too spooked, outwardly at least.

Tomorrow’s launch will carry Virgin Galactic employees Jamila Gilbert, Christopher Huie, Luke Mays, and Beth Moses, plus the two pilots, Mike Masucci and CJ Sturckow.

As before, the “mothership” VMS Eve will take off traditionally and take the spacecraft VSS Unity to 50,000 feet, where the latter will detach and rocket to the edge of space before gliding to a landing back at the Spaceport in New Mexico.

Takeoff is scheduled for 8 AM Mountain time, 7 AM Pacific. They aren’t doing live video of the launch, but Virgin Galactic said they’ll provide frequent updates and we will add any relevant new info to this post.

No tears, only launches now: Virgin Galactic heads back to space as Virgin Orbit goes under by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch