‘Galactic 07’ Mission Launch Window Opens June 8
02 May 2024 - 6:08AM
Business Wire
Flight Will Mark Virgin Galactic’s Seventh
Commercial Mission, Seventh Research Mission
Multiple Research Experiments to Include Axiom
Space and University Payloads
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) today announced the
‘Galactic 07’ flight window will open Saturday, June 8, 2024. This
will be the Company’s second spaceflight this year and 12th to
date.
Virgin Galactic’s spaceship will again be converted into a
suborbital science lab, with VSS Unity carrying an Axiom Space
affiliated researcher astronaut who will conduct multiple
human-tended experiments. In addition, Purdue University and UC
Berkeley will have autonomous payloads on board, supported by
NASA’s Flight Opportunities program. This mission showcases Virgin
Galactic’s ability to provide a flexible microgravity research
platform, benefiting further space exploration initiatives as well
as innovations on Earth.
“Discovery and innovation are central to our mission at Virgin
Galactic. We’re excited to build on our successful record of
facilitating scientific experiments in suborbital space, and we
look forward to continuing to expand our role in suborbital
research going forward,” said Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin
Galactic. “‘Galactic 07’ will also mark and celebrate VSS Unity's
final commercial flight – an exciting and historic turning point
for the business as we dedicate our resources fully to the
production of our next-generation Delta spaceships, on track for
commercial service in 2026.”
“Axiom Space’s commitment to enabling access to space and
providing opportunities for scientific discovery beyond Earth
aligns closely with Virgin Galactic’s mission,” said Tejpaul
Bhatia, Chief Revenue Officer of Axiom Space. “We are very excited
about this upcoming Galactic 07 flight; stay tuned for more on our
groundbreaking research and astronaut participant as we get closer
to June 8th.”
The hybrid research and private astronaut crew of ‘Galactic 07’
will include:
- Astronaut 027 – Researcher Astronaut, Axiom Space Affiliated
Astronaut
- Astronaut 028 – Private Astronaut, California, USA
- Astronaut 029 – Private Astronaut, New York, USA
- Astronaut 030 – Private Astronaut, Italy
The Virgin Galactic crew will include:
- VSS Unity Commander Nicola Pecile and pilot Jameel Janjua
- VMS Eve Commander Andy Edgell and pilot C.J. Sturckow
The ‘Galactic 07’ autonomous rack-mounted research payloads will
include a Purdue University experiment designed to study propellant
slosh in fuel tanks of maneuvering spacecraft, as well as a UC
Berkeley payload testing a new type of 3D printing. Virgin Galactic
has flown payloads for NASA’s Flight Opportunities program since
the Company’s first spaceflight in 2018 and was recently selected
by NASA as a contracted flight provider for the next five
years.
Today’s announcement follows notification from the FAA that
Virgin Galactic’s investigation into the cause of the detachment of
an alignment pin from VMS Eve following the release of VSS Unity
during the ‘Galactic 06’ mission on January 26th, 2024 is approved.
The FAA has accepted Virgin Galactic's final investigation report,
as well as the corrective actions that have been made to enhance
the retention mechanism of the pin and the addition of a secondary
retention mechanism.
Stay tuned to Virgin Galactic’s social channels for further
updates.
About Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is an aerospace and space travel company,
pioneering human spaceflight for private individuals and
researchers with its advanced air and space vehicles. Scale and
profitability are driven by next generation vehicles designed to be
capable of bringing humans to space at an unprecedented frequency
with an industry-leading cost structure. You can find more
information at https://www.virgingalactic.com/.
You can download all press materials from,
https://press.virgingalactic.com/
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by
the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained
in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
“Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements contained in
this press release other than statements of historical fact,
including, without limitation, statements regarding our spaceflight
systems, expected flight schedule and window, expected astronauts
and inflight activities and experiments, our role in future space
research, commencement of commercial service of our Delta fleet and
timing thereof, the expectation that ‘Galactic 07’ is VSS Unity’s
final flight, and our status as a contracted flight provider for
NASA are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,”
“will,” “estimate,” “potential,” “continue,” “anticipate,”
“intend,” “expect,” “strategy,” “future,” “could,” “would,”
“project,” “plan,” “target,” and similar expressions are intended
to identify forward-looking statements, though not all
forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. These
statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that
may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking
statements, including but not limited to any delay in future
commercial flights of our spaceflight fleet, our ability to
successfully develop and test our Delta fleet, and the time and
costs associated with doing so, and the factors, risks and
uncertainties included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as such factors may be updated
from time to time in our other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), accessible on the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of our website at
www.virgingalactic.com, which could cause our actual results to
differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking
statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking
statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this
press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking
statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation
to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240501447278/en/
For Media Inquiries: Aleanna Crane - Vice President,
Communications news@virgingalactic.com 575.800.4422 Jeff Michael -
Communications news@virgingalactic.com 661.754.4300 For Investor
Inquiries: Eric Cerny - Vice President, Investor Relations
vg-ir@virgingalactic.com 949.774.7637
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