{"id":33681,"date":"2023-08-10T17:42:09","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T17:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/10\/virgin-galactic-flies-first-tourists-to-edge-of-space\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:34:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:34:47","slug":"virgin-galactic-flies-first-tourists-to-edge-of-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/space\/2023\/08\/10\/virgin-galactic-flies-first-tourists-to-edge-of-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Virgin Galactic flies first tourists to edge of space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/space\/2021\/06\/30\/virgin-orbit-launches-four-us-military-satellites-into-orbit-from-plane\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Virgin-Orbit-88.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Virgin Orbit plane launches four US military satellites into space<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The LauncherOne rocket was lifted into the sky by a modified 747 before igniting midair over the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This first private customer flight had been delayed for years; its success means Richard Branson\u2019s Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin and Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX in the space tourism business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat was by far the most awesome thing I\u2019ve ever done in my life,\u201d passenger Jon Goodwin told the crowd after his flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Goodwin, who was among the first to buy a ticket in 2005, said he had faith that he would someday make the trip. The 80-year-old athlete \u2014 he competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics \u2014 has Parkinson\u2019s disease and wants to be an inspiration to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ticket prices were $200,000 when Goodwin signed up. The cost is now $450,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1288\" height=\"1740\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23222601821897.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-113014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23222601821897.jpg.jpg 1288w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23222601821897.jpg.jpg?resize=222,300 222w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23222601821897.jpg.jpg?resize=768,1038 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23222601821897.jpg.jpg?resize=758,1024 758w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23222601821897.jpg.jpg?resize=1137,1536 1137w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1288px) 100vw, 1288px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Virgin Galactic&#8217;s rocket-powered plane Unity 22, left, flies past its mothership Eve on its way to the edge of space after taking off from Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo\/Andr\u00e9s Leighton)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was joined on the flight by sweepstakes winner Keisha Schahaff, 46, a health coach from Antigua, and her daughter, Anastatia Mayers, 18, a student at Scotland\u2019s University of Aberdeen. They high-fived and pumped their fists as the spaceport crowd cheered their return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA childhood dream has come true,\u201d Schahaff said. Added her daughter: \u201cI have no words. The only thought I had the whole time was \u2018Wow!\u2019 &#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the company\u2019s astronaut trainer and one of the two pilots, it marked the first time women outnumbered men on a spaceflight, four to two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cheers erupted from families and friends watching below when the craft\u2019s rocket motor fired after it was released from the twin-fuselage aircraft that had carried it aloft. The rocket ship\u2019s portion of the flight lasted about 15 minutes and it reached 55 miles (88 kilometers) high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was Virgin Galactic\u2019s seventh trip to space since 2018, but the first with a ticket-holder. Branson, the company\u2019s founder, hopped on board for <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/virgin-galactic-launch-richard-branson-37fd721264b1421f8a1223ee5e5626e3\">the first full-size crew ride<\/a> in 2021. Italian military and government researchers <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/virgin-galactic-livestream-launch-italian-researchers-ae50a4580aaeae734d02722b546e3e9b\">soared in June<\/a> on the first commercial flight. About 800 people are currently on Virgin Galactic\u2019s waiting list, according to the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In contrast to Virgin Galactic\u2019s plane-launched rocket ship, the capsules used by SpaceX and Blue Origin are fully automated and parachute back down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin aims for the fringes of space, quick ups-and-downs from West Texas. Blue Origin has launched 31 people so far, but flights are on hold following a rocket crash last fall. The capsule, carrying experiments but no passengers, landed intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SpaceX, is the only private company flying customers all the way to orbit, charging a much heftier price, too: tens of millions of dollars per seat. It\u2019s already flown three private crews. NASA is its biggest customer, relying on SpaceX to ferry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station. since 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People have been taking on adventure travel for decades, the risks underscored by the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/missing-titanic-submersible-updates-6255308420cb542fab287224c3e9b1c1\">recent implosion of the Titan submersible<\/a> that killed five passengers on their way down to view the Titanic wreckage. Virgin Galactic suffered its own casualty in 2014 when its rocket plane broke apart during a test flight, killing one pilot. Yet space tourists are still lining up, ever since the first one rocketed into orbit in 2001 with the Russians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Branson, who lives in the British Virgin Islands, watched Thursday\u2019s flight from a party in Antigua. He was joined by the country\u2019s prime minister, as well as Schahaff\u2019s mother and other relatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWelcome to the club,\u201d he told the new spacefliers via X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several months ago, Branson held a virtual lottery to establish a pecking order for the company\u2019s first 50 customers \u2014 dubbed the Founding Astronauts. Virgin Galactic said the group agreed Goodwin would go first, given his age and his Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was Virgin Galactic\u2019s seventh trip to space since 2018, but the first with a ticket-holder. Italian military and government researchers soared in June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":113013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":37,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["news","home"],"primary_category":"news"}}},"categories":[7,29,13,37],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2434,1749],"class_list":["post-33681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-battlefield-tech","category-home","category-industry","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"53OMENZES5FLFB7ZRTGH2DNKTU","arc_canonical_url":"\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2023\/08\/10\/virgin-galactic-flies-first-tourists-to-edge-of-space\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Virgin Galactic flies first tourists to edge of space - C4ISRNet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It was Virgin Galactic\u2019s seventh trip to space since 2018, but the first with a ticket-holder. 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