After nearly two years, Virgin Galactic’s space plane returns to the sky
Enlarge / Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spacecraft completed a glide test Wednesday. (credit: Virgin Galactic)
The VSS Unity spacecraft did not make a powered flight with its rocket engine on Wednesday, but it cleared the final hurdle before doing so by performing a glide test in New Mexico.
On Wednesday morning, the VMS Eve aircraft took off from Spaceport America and subsequently released the spacecraft at an altitude of about 14 kilometers. After this, VSS Unity glided back to the runway in New Mexico, testing modifications to the spacecraft's flight controls and handling.
After the test, Virgin Galactic said the glide flight closes its "final validation test points" of a campaign to ensure the aircraft and space plane are ready to resume powered flights. To that end, the company said data collected during the flight will be analyzed in the coming weeks, and assuming the review goes well, the next mission will be a powered spaceflight.