Virgin Galactic's Unity rocket plane with its billionaire owner Richard Branson on board on Sunday, July 11, reached the Pocket Line, which is considered the boundary of space. The flight was broadcast on the [...] company's YouTube.
The Eve carrier aircraft lifted the rocket plane to an altitude of about 15 km. Then the spacecraft disconnected from the carrier and started its own engine. The crew of the ship was able to feel weightlessness for a few minutes at an altitude of more than 80 km. After that, the device began to descend and soon landed at the spaceport.
Despite the interference in the broadcast, Branson was able to say a few words from Unity, congratulating the audience on an important event.
The Unity rocket plane was launched from the spaceport in New Mexico. Initially, the launch was planned for 16: 00 Moscow time, but Virgin Galactic postponed it for an hour and a half due to weather conditions.
In addition to Branson, pilots Dave McKie and Michael Masucci, as well as company astronauts, took part in the flight. In total, the flight lasted about an hour. This was Unity's first full-load test suborbital flight.
On June 25, it was reported that Virgin Galactic received approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to launch customers into suborbital flights from New Mexico at a price of $250 thousand per seat.
