Virgin Galactic plans launch attempt from New Mexico spaceport
May 21—In a hasty announcement Thursday, Virgin Galactic said it will take another shot Saturday at launching the first humans into suborbital flight from New Mexico.
Virgin executives said crews have overcome the reported mechanical glitches in the mothership that hauls Spaceship Unity Two to about 50,000 feet in altitude — the point at which rocket boosters propel the smaller spacecraft to the upper atmosphere.
This will be Virgin's fourth attempt at a maiden rocket-powered test flight from Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences. Two were postponed and one was aborted midflight.
Virgin representatives didn't respond to emailed questions. But in a statement, the company's chief executive praised the technical team's work in keeping the launch within the May time frame.
"I want to thank our incredibly talented team of engineers, maintenance crew, quality inspectors and support staff for their diligence and hard work, which is testament to our commitment to safety and the integrity of our flight test program," said Virgin CEO Michael Colglazier.
On Thursday, Virgin's stock rose to almost $20 a share from $16.50 after the company announced the planned suborbital launch.
One aerospace expert said Richard Branson, the company's founder, makes rosy forecasts and schedules test flights to reassure jittery investors.
Competitors such as Blue Origin and SpaceX are pulling ahead in the race to establish commercial suborbital flights, said Erik Seedhouse, spaceflight operations professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Virgin still has "many, many more test flights" before paying customers can get on board a spacecraft, said Seedhouse, author of Virgin Galactic: The First Ten Years.
"Based on past performance, even the most reckless optimist probably wouldn't bet on revenue flights in the next five years," he said.
The company hopes to eventually launch 400 commercial flights a year from the spaceport. The allure of soaring to 50 miles above Earth has attracted 600 wealthy spacefarers such as Tom Cruise and Paris Hilton, who are willing to pay $200,000 to $250,000 per ticket.
Another 900 people have paid $1,000 for reserve seats.
Virgin is in dire need of a revenue stream. Reuters reported the company lost $130 million last quarter, compounding last year's net loss of $377 million.
In March, Virgin Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya sold his shares in the company for $200 million — dealing Virgin both a financial and public relations blow.
Getting commercial flights off the ground also is crucial to the spaceport.
A spaceport spokeswoman said officials were declining to comment until after the test flight is completed.
In a March interview, the spaceport's chief executive, Scott McLaughlin, said the facility is diversifying but there's no denying it was built for Virgin.
"They're the bulk of our revenues," McLaughlin said of Virgin.
Last year, Virgin sought to carry two pilots to the lower fringe of space. A flight with four people, including two passengers, would follow. Then the third flight would transport Branson above Earth.
But the first flight was postponed in late November in response to a state health order calling for nonessential businesses to shut down for two weeks because coronavirus cases had spiked.
In December, computers aborted the flight when they detected electromagnetic interference in the spacecraft's systems as the rockets ignited. The two pilots glided safely back to Earth.
A test flight scheduled for February was postponed until this month when a similar electromagnetic glitch was found.
Last week, it looked as though the test flight would be delayed until at least June because of mechanical problems found in the mothership.
The continual setbacks show what an exceedingly challenging endeavor space flight is — and it's clear Virgin will progress much slower than its executives predict, Seedhouse said.
"I think the writing is on the wall after 17 years of trying to do this," he said.
