A Virgin Galactic manned spacecraft has landed safely after a test flight, the space company has reported via Twitter on Saturday. The purpose of the test flight was to test the missile system, which is still in the development phase.
The aircraft, the VSS Unity, was manned by two pilots who had previously flown into space. Unity has room for two pilots and six passengers.
The spacecraft was first brought to an altitude of more than 13 kilometers by a special aircraft. Then Unity was able to fly on its own power at 89.2 kilometers, before returning to a runway in the US state of New Mexico.
Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier calls the test flight “a great success,” CNBC reports. The company still has about three flights to go before the development of the missile system can be completed. The results of the flight are submitted to the United States Aviation Authority. If Virgin Galactic meets all the requirements, the company will be allowed to perform space flights on a regular basis.
This is the third test flight conducted by the space company. The previous two flights took place in the Mojave Desert in the US state of California, where Virgin Galactic’s development center is located.