Virgin Galactic's to Launch 1st Ukrainian Woman to Space  And 3 Others  on Galactic 06 Suborbital Flight Today

Space News ,World :- Virgin Galactic is gearing up for its sixth commercial spaceflight, Galactic 06, scheduled to launch today on January 26. This mission will see four private passengers embark on a suborbital journey, departing from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The launch window is set to open at noon EST (1700 GMT; 10 a.m. local New Mexico time).

Unlike previous missions, it seems there won't be a live webcast of the event. However, Virgin Galactic is expected to provide updates on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) throughout the flight, following its recent communication trend.

As of Thursday afternoon (Jan. 25), the identities of the Galactic 06 passengers had not been disclosed by Virgin Galactic. The only information available was their home nations and/or states: one from Texas, one from California, one Austrian, and the fourth from Nevada and Ukraine, marking the first Ukrainian woman to venture into space, according to a statement from Virgin Galactic.

The VSS Unity space plane will carry the Galactic 06 crew, launching from Spaceport America beneath the wings of the carrier craft VMS Eve. At an altitude of about 45,000 feet (13,700 meters), Unity will separate from Eve and ignite its rocket motor, propelling it to suborbital space. Passengers will enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness and witness Earth from the vantage point of space before descending for a runway landing back at Spaceport America.

Tickets for a seat aboard the six-passenger Unity are currently priced at $400,000. Galactic 06 marks Virgin Galactic's first mission of the year and potentially one of the final flights for Unity. The company intends to retire this space plane, which has been the vessel for all Virgin spaceflights to date, in favor of the upcoming "Delta class" vehicle.

Virgin Galactic envisions each Delta plane capable of flying up to twice per week. The first Delta vehicle is scheduled for test flights in 2025, with commercial operations expected to commence the following year.

In the competitive suborbital space tourism industry, Virgin Galactic faces a rival in Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' aerospace company. Blue Origin utilizes a rocket-capsule combination called New Shepard. Despite a setback during an uncrewed research mission in September 2022, New Shepard recently returned to flight, with its last crewed mission dating back to August 2022.