Virgin Galactic will launch its first ever suborbital flight with paying customers on Thursday, June 29, when it launches three Italian researchers on the Galactic 01 mission.

SpaceX launched Axiom Space’s second private mission to the International Space Station on Sunday (May 22), which included two Americans and a pair of Saudi astronauts, including the first female astronaut from the kingdom.

Airbus unveiled plans for private space station modules, Axiom Space said it will offer nations customized space programs, and Sierra Space and ILC Dover announced a strategic partnership to build inflatable stations and next-generation spacesuits to further commercial human spaceflight during the 38th Space Symposium in Colorado.

A Congressionally-mandated review by the Rand Corporation has recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) be given the authority to formulate safety regulations to protect passengers and crew members on commercial human spaceflights when a regulatory moratorium expires on October 1, 2023.

U.S. commercial human spaceflight is set to accelerate over the next two years as SpaceX launches more commercial missions into orbit, Blue Origin’s New Shepard resumes suborbital flights, and Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity completes its test flight program and enters commercial service.

NASA has nixed the idea of suborbital training flights for its astronauts aboard vehicles launched by Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic.

Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier had reason to be upbeat during the company’s earnings call last week. The company’s mothership, VMS Eve, had flown back to Spaceport America the day before following a 16-month overhaul at the Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field in California.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — The battle over what – if any – government safety regulations will be formulated for people flying on Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic suborbital vehicles and the right of those passengers to sue in the event of an accident was on full display at the Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC) in Colorado this week.