White Knight Two
Virgin Galactic is aiming to begin commercial suborbital spaceflight services between June 27 and 30, the company said on June 15.
Virgin Galactic will be flying three researchers and experiments from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Center of Italy, which are paying an undisclosed sum for the mission aboard the VSS Unity.
Unity will be carried to an altitude of about 40,000 ft. by the White Knight Two carrier aircraft, which will take off from Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Upon release, Unity’s hybrid rocket motor will ignite to catapult the spaceship some 54 mi. above Earth. A Virgin Galactic employee and two Virgin Galaxy pilots will also be aboard.
The mission, known as Galactic 01, will be followed by Galactic 02 in early August , the company said. Monthly flights will begin after that.
