VSS Unity

VSS ''Unity'' (Virgin Space Ship Unity, Registration: N202VG), previously referred to as VSS ''Voyager'', is a SpaceShipTwo-class suborbital rocket-powered crewed spaceplane. It is the second ''SpaceShipTwo'' to be built and is part of the Virgin Galactic fleet. It first reached space as defined by the United States (above 50 miles) on 13 December 2018, on the VP-03 mission.

''Unity'' is able to reach space as defined by the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the FAA, by going over 50 miles (80.5 km) above sea level. However, it is unable to go above the Kármán line, the FAI's defined space boundary at 62.1 miles (100 km).

VSS ''Unity'' was rolled out on 19 February 2016
and completed ground-based system integration testing in September 2016, prior to its first flight on 8 September 2016.

Overview

VSS ''Unity'', the second SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane for Virgin Galactic, is the first SpaceShipTwo built by The Spaceship Company. The ship's name was announced on 19 February 2016. Prior to the naming announcement, the craft was referred to as SpaceShipTwo, Serial Number Two. There was speculation in 2004 that Serial Number Two would be named VSS ''Voyager'', an unofficial name that was repeatedly used in media coverage. The name ''Unity'' was chosen by British physicist Stephen Hawking. Hawking's eye is also used as the model for the eye logo on the side of ''Unity''.

History

The manufacture of ''Unity'' began in 2012. The spacecraft's registration, N202VG, was filed in September 2014. As of early November 2014, the build of ''Unity'' was about 90 percent structurally complete, and 65 percent complete overall.

As of April 2015, ground tests of ''Unity'' were projected to be able to begin as early as late 2015,
after being projected as early as mid-2015 as of November 2014.
On 21 May 2015, ''Unity'' reached the milestone of bearing the weight of the airframe on its own wheels.
The spaceship was unveiled on 19 February 2016, as Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson had projected in November 2015; ground and flight testing commenced thereafter.

VSS ''Unity'' is the second SpaceShipTwo to be completed; the first, VSS ''Enterprise'', was destroyed in a crash in late October 2014.

After rollout and unveiling, a phase of testing called " Integrated Vehicle Ground Testing" began on VSS ''Unity'' in February 2016.

Test flight program

VSS ''Unity'' will undergo a test regimen similar to VSS ''Enterprise'', then will embark on testing beyond what ''Enterprise'' experienced. The test flights are expected to be fewer, as ''Enterprise'' has already tested the design's responses under numerous conditions. For each flight test, the White Knight Two aircraft carries ''Unity'' to altitude. Testing began with captive carry flights, in which ''Unity'' was not released from its carrier aircraft. Testing then progressed to free-flight glide testing, and will continue with powered test flights. It is possible that only two or three flights under each regime previously tested will be performed, instead of the five or ten that ''Enterprise'' performed.

On 8 September 2016, Virgin Galactic commenced flight testing of ''Unity'' with a captive-carry flight.
On 1 November 2016, Virgin Galactic conducted another captive-carry flight of ''Unity'' but cancelled the glide portion of the flight because of wind speed. On 3 November and 30 November, additional captive-carry flights took place.

In July 2017, Richard Branson suggested that the craft was to begin powered tests at three-week intervals. In September 2017, CEO George Whitesides suggested that engine testing was complete, and that only a "small number of glide flights" remained before VSS ''Unity'' would begin powered test flights. The first powered flight test took place on 5 April 2018 when a 30-second rocket firing accelerated ''Unity'' to a speed of Mach 1.87 and an altitude of . The first powered test flight of ''Unity'' exceeded the altitude of all powered test flights of its predecessor, ''Enterprise''.

VSS ''Unity'' VP-03, the first suborbital spaceflight of VSS ''Unity'' was successfully completed on 13 December 2018, surpassing the altitude considered the boundary of outer space by NASA and the United States Air Force.

Following its February 2019 flight to space, VSS ''Unity'' began to undergo modifications including installation of the commercial cabin, and changes to cockpit displays. Upon completion of these modifications, VSS ''Unity'' along with its carrier craft, VMS ''Eve'', were moved to Spaceport America in New Mexico in February 2020. After completing two additional glide tests in New Mexico in May and June 2020, VSS ''Unity'' underwent final modifications to the commercial cabin and in July 2020, Virgin Galactic first publicly showed the interior of the space craft.

Full list of test flights

See also

* Space tourism

Notes

References

External links

N202VG Virgin Galactic 1 Flight tracking history log

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vss Unity
Virgin Galactic
Crewed spacecraft
Unity
Rocket-powered aircraft
Individual spaceplanes
Space tourism
Suborbital spaceflight
Aircraft first flown in 2016
Glider aircraft