The VSS Unity flight on 2021-05-22 reached an altitude of nearly 90 km and landed at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
VSS Unity’s upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls provide finer pilot control and will be deployed in future spaceships in Virgin Galactic’s fleet.
Virgin Galactic flew its SpaceShipTwo vehicle VSS Unity on 2021-05-22 to an altitude of 89.2 km with two pilots aboard and landed back at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
The 2021-05-22 flight tested VSS Unity’s upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls and validated electromagnetic interference reductions.
VSS Unity reached space at an altitude of 89.2 km on the 2021-05-22 flight.
VSS Unity's Unity21 flight was the third spaceflight launched from Spaceport America.
VSS Unity achieved a peak altitude of 89.2 km on its 2021-05-22 suborbital flight.
The SpaceShipTwo vehicle VSS Unity took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 10:34 a.m. Eastern on 2021-05-22.
VSS Unity landed on a runway at Spaceport America at 11:43 a.m. Eastern on 2021-05-22.
Laboratory testing and installations on VSS Unity reduced electromagnetic interference by about 10 to 20 decibels, a reduction of more than 90%.
Unity and HERE developed a proof-of-concept embedded in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) application created on Unity’s platform and featuring HERE 3D city data.
In 2020, Unity announced collaborations with multiple companies across the HMI ecosystem, including Continental AG’s Elektrobit and NXP Semiconductors.
At the conclusion of the fall 2021 stand-down, Virgin Galactic expects VSS Unity to begin flying private astronauts and SpaceShip III to be in a position to complete its flight testing in early 2022.
Virgin Galactic expects the next powered test flight of VSS Unity to take place in May 2021.
Starting in fall 2021, Virgin Galactic will stand down from test and commercial flights for about four months, delaying the start of commercial flights of VSS Unity.
The contract is the first enterprise contract awarded that allows the U.S. Space Force and other space analysis organizations to establish task orders promoting synergies and unity of effort.
Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo aircraft carrying the SpaceShipTwo vehicle named VSS Unity took off from Spaceport America at 10:24 a.m. Eastern on 2020-12-12.
VSS Unity glided back to Spaceport America and landed at 11:27 a.m. Eastern on 2020-12-12 with pilots and vehicle safe.
Virgin Galactic unveiled the design of the SpaceShipTwo customer cabin on 2020-07-28 and was still completing the cabin installation on VSS Unity.
VSS Unity performed two glide flights from Spaceport America after the move, most recently on 2020-06-25.