Virgin Galactic is about to launch its first commercial flight to the edge of space.
A three-man crew from Italy will be on board the rocket plane operated by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s company, along with an astronaut instructor, and will carry out 13 scientific research experiments.
Among other things, they will measure air quality to inform future long-term missions and record how certain liquids and solids interact in microgravity and at different temperatures.
The spacecraft, called VSS Unity, is scheduled to launch at 4pm BST from Spaceport America in New Mexico, and the flight will take 90 minutes.
The space flight, dubbed Galactic 01, will collect data via payloads, wearable sensors and cockpit-mounted autonomous payloads.
Virgin Galactic said its first commercial spaceflight marked a new era in government-funded, human-supported commercial research missions.
The launch comes a month after Sir Richards announced Virgin Orbit was ending operations, months after a failed mission over the UK.
In January, the California-based company sought to complete Britain’s first satellite launch from Earth, hoping the mission could be an important springboard for UK space exploration.
But the LauncherOne missile failed to reach orbit and saw its payload of American and British intelligence satellites sink into the ocean.
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