A group of Italian researchers reached the edge of space on Thursday, hours after lifting off from the New Mexico desert on a Virgin Galactic mission to bring commercial spaceflight to all.
Two members of the Italian Air Force and an engineer from Italy’s National Research Council are the first paying customers for the trip, dubbed “Galactic 01,” CNBC reports.
Italian researchers hope to carry out a series of microgravity experiments while experiencing weightlessness, the Associated Press reports.
Virgin Galactic, the brainchild of British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, will proceed with a second mission in August, according to CNBC, adding that the company aims to fly its spacecraft, VSS Unity, once a month.
Suborbital flights last a minimum of 90 minutes and top out at 2,600 mph while transporting four passengers to the edge of space for “unbelievable views,” according to the company’s website.
By noon on Thursday, the spacecraft had begun to glide back to Earth for landing; Virgin Galactic has a backlog of around 800 people who have already bought their tickets to experience space flight.
Initial tickets are around $200,000, but recent prices are much higher.
According to The Guardian, Virgin Galactic investors are suing the company, claiming that the spacecraft’s flaws have not been disclosed, leading to ongoing delays.
Branson’s first trip into near space was investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2021 after the pilots of the flight “went off course” after they were allegedly alerted by yellow and red warning lights while the crew of six people flew into space.
The lights, according to the New Yorker, were meant to notify pilots that the craft was not vertical enough to properly glide toward Earth with enough momentum after reaching space.
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