PADOVA, Italy (T4i PR) — On February 24, 2022, the first flight test of an innovative sounding rocket for access-to-space applications for small satellites was successfully performed.
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Successful Italian Sounding Rocket Flight Test
Tag: Italian Air Force
Axiom Space to Train Italian Air Force’s Col. Walter Villadei as Professional Astronaut for Future Space Mission
HOUSTON, January 11, 2022 (Axiom Space PR) – Axiom Space, Inc., the leader in human spaceflight and human-rated space infrastructure, announced Tuesday it has welcomed Col. Walter Villadei of the Italian Air Force (ItAF) to its headquarters in Houston to begin astronaut training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) as part of Axiom’s professional astronaut services.
Through a partnership with KBR and NASA, Axiom, which trains and flies professional and private astronauts, is able to provide potential astronaut candidates access to facilities, instructors, and training at NASA. Candidates for flight complete Axiom’s training curriculum over many months in preparation to live and conduct meaningful work in space.
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Virgin Galactic Delays Italian Flight Test; Start of Commercial Service Delayed to Q4 2022
- Recent material testing returned new data that requires further analysis
- Italian Air Force mission to follow enhancement period
- Potential supplier component issue has been resolved
- Commercial service expected to commence in Q4 2022
LAS CRUCES, NM (Virgin Galactic PR) — Virgin Galactic today announced that it will now begin its planned enhancement program for VMS Eve and VSS Unity and will conduct the Unity 23 test flight after this work is complete.
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Virgin Galactic Delays Next SpaceShipTwo Flight
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Virgin Galactic PR)– Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) (the “Company” or “Virgin Galactic”), a vertically integrated aerospace and space travel company, today announced an update regarding the timing of its next test flight “Unity 23” with the Italian Air Force.
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Virgin Galactic Announces First Commercial Research Mission
- “Unity 23” Test Flight Will Mark First Research Customer Mission
- Partnership with Italian Air Force Marks First Mission of Its Kind led by European Country
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Virgin Galactic PR) — Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) (the “Company” or “Virgin Galactic”), a vertically integrated aerospace and space travel company, today announced the manifest for the next rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity from Spaceport America, which will be the first commercial, human-tended research mission for the Company.
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Virgin Galactic Raises Ticket Prices to $450,000, Delays Commercial Flights 2 Quarters, and Reports $94 Million 2nd Quarter Net Loss
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
On July 11, Richard Branson returned from a suborbital journey declaring the start of a new era of flight that would make outer space open to everyone, and promoting a raffle for two averagenauts to fly aboard early flights of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo.
Today, Virgin Galactic announced it was hiking the cost of those seats from $250,000 to $450,000 for new ticket buyers. It was the second time the company has raised ticket prices even before any paying passengers have flown. In 2013, the price rose from $200,000 to $250,000. The first paying passengers haven’t even flown yet.
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Thales Alenia Space to Provide First Two Pressurized Modules for Axiom Space Station
- The World’s First Commercial Space Orbital Infrastructure and new comfortable home for humans in space
- Extending the boundaries of research and science activities in space for a more sustainable life on Earth
- In this occasion, Thales Alenia Space and the Italian Air Force ratify a Memorandum of Collaboration for a variety of developments and tests in microgravity
ROME (Thales Alenia Space PR) – Thales Alenia Space, Joint Venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), and Axiom Space of Houston, Texas (USA), have signed the final contract for the development of two key pressurized elements of Axiom Space Station – the world’s first commercial space station. Scheduled for launch in 2024 and 2025 respectively, the two elements will originally be docked to the International Space Station (ISS), marking the birth of the new Axiom Station segment. The value of the contract is 110 Million Euro [US $129.9 million].
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Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson Aims to Fly to Space Before Jeff Bezos
Fourth of July weekend could include some extra fireworks this year.
Updated with statement from Virgin Galactic on June 8, 2021 at 10:53 a.m. PDT.
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
It looks like Richard Branson could beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos to space next month.
Virgin Galactic is working on a plan to send Branson on a suborbital flight aboard the VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane over the July 4 holiday weekend, according to a source who requested anonymity. The flight is contingent upon obtaining an operator’s license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
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New Shepard Auction Update: The Bid Remains the Same
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Checking up on Blue Origin’s auction of a seat on the first crewed New Shepard flight, we find that the top bid remains at $2.8 million. That’s exactly where it was a few days after online bidding became public on May 19.
Online bidding will end next Thursday, June 10 at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC). Bidders need to raise their bid limits before that deadline. Two days later, the competition will conclude with a live online auction.
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Breaking Down Virgin Galactic’s Latest Flight Test
Take me out to the black,
Tell them I ain’t comin’ back.
Burn the land and boil the sea,
You can’t take the sky from me….
— “The Ballad of Serenity,” Sonny Rhodes
“After so many years and so much hard work, New Mexico has finally reached the stars.”
— New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
By now, you’ve probably read the rhetoric flourishes in Virgin Galactic’s press release about the company’s first suborbital flight test in more than two years that was conducted on Saturday. Suffice to say, if the stars were located at the altitude that SpaceShipTwo actually reached (55.45 miles/89.2 km), they would take the sky away at the same time they burned the land and boiled the seas. Being suborbital, VSS Unity wouldn’t have helped anyone escape the inferno.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen. So, let’s just put doomsday out of our minds. It’s time to break down what the flight test accomplished, what comes next, and why 27 months passed between powered flights. And what about Jeff Bezos?
Ready? Let’s go!
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Virgin Galactic Stock Plunges as Company Delays Space Tourism Flights to 2022
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Shares of Virgin Galactic plunged sharply on Thursday as the company announced that it was postponing the start of commercial suborbital space tourism flights until 2022 due to additional delays in completing SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity‘s test program.
Shares plunged in after hours trading to $36.69 after opening the day at $45.04. Most of the decline occurred in after hours trading following the release of Virgin Galactic quarterly and full year 2020 earning report.
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Virgin Galactic, Italian Air Force Announce Contract for Human Tended Research Flight
WASHINGTON, DC, October 2, 2019 (Virgin Galactic PR) — Virgin Galactic has announced a new contract with the Italian Air Force for a research flight on the company’s SpaceShipTwo system during which Italian researchers will actively conduct experiments while they are in space.
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