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Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Galactic reports that their suborbital spaceplanes are on track to allow commercial flights in mid-2026; tickets may soon be available!
“An enormous amount of work is taking place across our company as well as our key suppliers,” said Michael Colglazier, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, in the call. Earlier in the day, the company released a video highlighting current progress on the vehicle, and Colglazier said the company would start a regular series of updates on assembly in June.
The company reaffirmed a schedule it provided in its previous earnings call in February that projects test flights of the new vehicle to begin in the spring of next year. The first commercial flights, with research payloads, would take place in the summer, with private astronaut flights starting in the fall.
With that schedule holding, Colglazier said the Virgin anticipated reopening ticket sales in the first quarter of 2026. The company will bring on new customers in waves through what he called a “white glove onboarding experience” that will also allow the company to adjust pricing. Virgin has not set new ticket prices yet, but they will be higher than previous sales at $600,000 each.
(Via Spacenews.)
(Spaceplane from Virgin Galactic)
As far as I know, the first use of the word "spaceplane occurs in the Zarnak series, published in Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1937:
(Spaceplane from 'Zarnak' by Max Plaisted)ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, VAECO. I'M LEAVING IMMEDIATELY IN MY SPACEPLANE!
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