An aerial view of carrier aircraft VMS Eve, left, and spacecraft VSS Unity, at Spaceport America in Recent Mexico on Feb. 27, 2023.
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic said on Tuesday it stays on target to resume spaceflights in the approaching months after completing upgrades to its carrier aircraft and spacecraft.
The update got here alongside the corporate’s fourth-quarter results, which showed losses roughly according to its previous quarter.
“Our near-term objective for industrial spaceline operations is to soundly deliver recurring flights with our current ships while providing an unrivaled experience for personal astronauts and researchers,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a press release.
The space tourism company stuck to its goal of conducting its next spaceflights within the second quarter of this 12 months, after a lengthy hiatus dating back to summer 2021. During that period Virgin Galactic conducted quite a lot of repairs and enhancements to its jet-powered mothership, called VMS Eve.
Earlier this month, the corporate flew two validation flight tests with VMS Eve and relocated it, from its manufacturing facility in California’s Mojave to Spaceport America in Recent Mexico.
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Next up are a series of tests, starting with attaching the spacecraft VSS Unity to the carrier aircraft while on the bottom, to exhibit work done to strengthen the pylon in the middle of VMS Eve’s wing was successful. Then Virgin Galactic will conduct glide tests, where VMS Eve carries the spacecraft and releases it, before a test spaceflight with a full company crew onboard.
After that, the corporate’s first industrial flight is predicted to hold members of the Italian Air Force, before moving on to flights from its backlog of private-paying customers.
For the fourth quarter, the corporate reported an adjusted EBITDA lack of $133 million, compared with a lack of $65 million a 12 months ago, with negligible revenue. The corporate has about $980 million in money available.
Shares of Virgin Galactic are up about 65% this 12 months as of Tuesday’s close of $5.74 per share.
