spacetoday.net: Virgin Galactic rolls out next suborbital spaceplane

Virgin Galactic rolls out next suborbital spaceplane

Posted: Sat, Apr 3, 2021, 10:46 AM ET (1446 GMT)
Virgin Galactic Spaceship III VSS Imagine (Virgin Galactic)

Virgin Galactic unveiled the first of a new line of suborbital vehicles Tuesday. VSS Imagine is the first of the "Spaceship III" series, which looks similar to SpaceShipTwo but incorporates changes to its structure and how it is manufactured, which will reduce its weight and speed up its production. Flight tests of VSS Imagine will begin this summer at Spaceport America in New Mexico, while a second Spaceship III, VSS Inspire, is built in Mojave, California. The company's SpaceShipTwo vehicle, VSS Unity, is undergoing work to address electromagnetic interference issues that aborted a test flight in December. The company says that vehicle is on track to make its next powered test flight in May.