Virgin Galactic Unity 25

Unity 25 will be the first spaceflight for Virgin Galactic since Richard Branson flew to space in July 2021. The company had planned to fly a research flight for the Italian Air Force, Unity 23, later that year, but the fleet was temporarily grounded following an error during Branson's flight, along with upgrades and modifications being made to the vehicles. Virgin Galactic plans to fly its first commercial flight in late June 2023 if Unity 25 is successful.[2]

The crew of Unity 25 will include two pilots and four passengers, all being employees at Virgin Galactic. Both pilots have flown SpaceShipTwo to space previously, and CJ Sturckow has flown to space on the Space Shuttle. Of the four passengers, only Beth Moses has flown to space before, and the other three are flying to space for the first time.[3]

The mission will be Virgin Galactic's fifth spaceflight. VMS Eve, a WhiteKnightTwo mothership, will take off from Spaceport America in New Mexico, and carry VSS Unity in a parasite configuration before releasing it. From there, the spaceplane will ignite its rocket engine and fly to over 50 mi (80 km) in altitude, above the U.S. definition for the start of space, but below the internationally recognized Kármán line at 62 mi (100 km). It will then reenter the atmosphere and land on the same runway it took off from.[4]