Virgin Galactic successfully launches SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 with Richard Branson to space

SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 landing at Spaceport America after a successful flight - Virgin Galactic 

On Sunday, July 11th, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Group's spaceflight company, has successfully launched the first fully crewed space flight of the SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 spacecraft with a special passenger on board: the company's billionaire founder, Richard Branson.

SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 (N202VG) flight data - 

CSV /GEOJSON /KML 

The image above: RadarBox.com 

VGX01 tracklog - 

Virgin MotherShip Eve (N348MS) flight data - 

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The image above: RadarBox.com 

The image above: VGX3 tracklog 

VSS Unity22 flight

Richard Branson aboard VSS Unity 22 - Virgin Galactic 

Richard Branson aboard VSS Unity 22 - Virgin Galactic 

SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 landing at Spaceport America after a successful flight - Virgin Galactic 

SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 after a successful mission on the ground at Spaceport America - Virgin Galactic 

The VSS Unity 22 flight was launched from the spaceport Spaceport America, built by Virgin Galactic in Los Cruces in New Mexico in the US.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson - Photo: Johannes EISELE / AFP

Unity 22 is Branson's company's fourth human-crewed mission beyond Earth's atmosphere. Still, VSS Unity's launch is the first fully crewed flight test, consisting of six passengers - two pilots and four "mission specialists," with the British billionaire among them.

VMS Eve is a Virgin Galactic carrier mothership and serves as an air launchpad for SpaceShips based on SpaceShip Two. The VMS Eve was named after Branson's mother.

Virgin MotherShip (VMS) Eve - Image source: Virgin Galactic/Mark Greenberg 

The historic Virgin Galactic commercial space flight took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico with a Virgin VMS Eve aircraft (N348MS) carrying the VSS Unity space rocket plane (N202VG) up to 46,333 feet. After this procedure, the VSS Unity spacecraft proceeded on its own up to 282,726 feet and with a speed of 2090 mph for suborbital flight.

SpaceShipTwo interior view and details - Source: Gareth Burgess

At about 282,726 ft above the New Mexico desert, the crew experienced a few minutes of weightlessness before starting the descent to Earth.

SpaceShipTwo spaceliner interior

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo interior. Image source: Virgin Galactic

SpaceShipTwo's cabin features six seats and 12 large windows. Image source: Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo interior features six sleek passenger seats, a wealth of windows, and room to float about the cabin. Image source: Virgin Galactic

The spaceflight company has already reserved 600 seats for future missions, priced at approximately $250,000 - but this cost can be reduced to as low as $40,000 as this type of operation becomes more popular.

The Story of Virgin Galactic