VSS ''Imagine'' (Virgin Space Ship ''Imagine''), is a SpaceShip III class suborbital

rocket-powered A rocket-powered aircraft or rocket plane is an aircraft that uses a rocket engine for propulsion, sometimes in addition to airbreathing jet engines. Rocket planes can achieve much higher speeds than similarly sized jet aircraft, but typicall ...

crewed

spaceplane A spaceplane is a vehicle that can fly and glide like an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and maneuver like a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbital spaceplanes te ...

. It is the first ''SpaceShip III'' to be built and will be used as part of the

Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The compan ...

fleet. The spacecraft was rolled out 30 March 2021 and was planned to undergo ground and glide testing during summer 2021. Although as of spring 2022 it has not yet flown.

Overview

VSS ''Imagine'', the first SpaceShip III suborbital spaceplane for

was announced on 25 February 2021 and was rolled out 30 March 2021. It is one of two SpaceShip III class spacecraft on order by Virgin Galactic, the second being VSS ''Inspire''.

References

{{Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic Individual spaceplanes American spacecraft Suborbital spaceflight Crewed spacecraft Rocket-powered aircraft Space tourism Vehicles introduced in 2021 Experimental vehicles