Three citizens were launched into space and landed safely on Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spacecraft, completing the company’s second spaceflight in 2024 and 12 missions to date.
Virgin Galactic’s seventh commercial mission carried a researcher and three private astronauts, the company he said on Saturday. On board were two pilots Nicola Pecile and Jameel Janjua. They were joined by Giorgio Manenti from Italy, Irving Pergament from New York, Anand Sadhwani from California and Tuva Atasever, only the second Turkish astronaut to fly in space. Atasever’s trip was sponsored by Axiom Space to do research on microgravity.
“Watching our pioneering Unity spacecraft return from space on its final commercial flight was a breathtaking and proud moment as we celebrated the ship’s unprecedented achievements in human spaceflight and built momentum for the launch of our first spacecraft. Delta Class in 2026”, said the CEO of Virgin Galactic. Michael Colglazier.
The flight took off from New Mexico at around 8:31 a.m. local time and landed just over an hour later. The carrier jet launched the space plane to an altitude of 44,500 feet. The ship reached speeds of almost three times the speed of sound, according to the company. Atasever flew a helmet with brain activity monitoring sensors and two insulin pens to test insulin delivery in microgravity.
“I am so grateful to have represented my country at ‘Galactic 07’ and conducted groundbreaking research that will impact future space missions,” said Atasever. “The successful completion of Ax-3 and now ‘Galactic 07’ is just the beginning of Türkiye’s space efforts. May our people at home continue to be inspired and dream beyond the stars.”
The company will now focus on building its first Delta Class ships, which are expected to be used commercially in 2026. Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 by Richard Branson.
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