VSS Unity (Virgin Space Ship Unity, registration: N202VG), previously referred to as VSS Voyager, is a retired SpaceShipTwo-class suborbital rocket-powered crewed spaceplane. It was the second SpaceShipTwo to be built and was part of the Virgin Galactic fleet. It first reached space as defined by the United States (above 50 miles or 80.5 km) on 13 December 2018, on the VP-03 mission. Unity was 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 was unable to go above the Kármán line, the FAI's defined space boundary of 100 km (62.1 miles). 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. Unity was retired on 8 June 2024 after its final flight took place on that date, as Virgin Galactic shifted its focus to the next generation Delta-class vehicles.

Overview

VSS Unity, the second SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane for Virgin Galactic, was 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 was 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 was 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 underwent a test regimen similar to VSS Enterprise and then embarked on testing beyond what Enterprise experienced. The test flights were expected to be fewer, as Enterprise had already tested the design's responses under numerous conditions. For each flight test, the White Knight Two aircraft carried 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 continued with powered test flights. 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 84271 ft. 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 50 mi 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 spacecraft. Unity then continued the test flight program in the years 2020-2023. A notable flight occurred in 2021 when Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson flew aboard Unity to space. The final test flight (defined as final flight with only Virgin Galactic personnel onboard) was Virgin Galactic Unity 25 mission on 25 May 2023. The first operational flight of Unity (defined as the first flight flying passengers that were not Virgin Galactic employees) was Galactic 01 on 29 June 2023. The flights of VSS Unity ended mid-2024 to focus the effort on the next generation Delta-class vehicles, expected for 2025–26.

List of spaceflights by VSS Unity

Full list of flights