Friday, June 2, 2017

Virgin Galactic Launches Ninth Test Flight

Virgin Galactic, the space travel and tourism startup backed by Sir Richard Branson, successfully launched its ninth test flight on Thursday in Mojave, as the company continues to prepare to take passengers into space. Virgin Galactic said the latest flight, piloted by Dave Mackay and CJ Sturckow, focused on taking more weight than its prior test flights, with around 1000lbs of water on the rear of the spaceship's fuselage. The company says it is now switching its attention to the spaceship's propulsion system. The test follows a busy week in Mojave for the space industry, which included the rollout of the world's biggest airplane, the Stratolaunch, by Microsoft billionaire Paul G. Allen earlier in the week.