Virgin Galactic returns Unity to flight to prepare for next-generation spaceplane

AMSTERDAM — The Virgin Galactic spaceplane used for the company’s first commercial flights has returned to service to train its pilots for its next-generation spacecraft.

Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spaceplane performed a glide flight May 27 after being released by the Eve aircraft in the skies above Spaceport America in New Mexico. Unity glided to a runway landing at the spaceport.

This was the first flight for Unity since its last commercial suborbital spaceflight in June 2024. Virgin decided to stop flying the vehicle to focus its resources on its new spaceplane, called SpaceShip, currently in development.

Virgin started flying Unity to provide proficiency training for its pilots as it prepares to begin flights of the first SpaceShip later this year, while also practicing ground operations.

“Unity’s glide characteristics and energy-management profile provide an outstanding real-world proxy for our new spaceship,” Mike Moses, Virgin Galactic’s spaceline president, said in a statement. “Using a proven vehicle in this way prepares our pilots and operations teams to move through flight testing for our new spaceship more efficiently and with greater confidence than simulator training alone could provide.”

In a May 14 earnings call, Virgin executives said the Unity glide flights were part of preparations for SpaceShip test flights starting in the third quarter, with commercial suborbital flights beginning before the end of the year.

“One of the many ways we are preparing for the first flight test of our new spaceship is by bringing our prototype spaceship, Unity, back for an encore performance,” Michael Colglazier, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, said during the call. He said the company planned to perform “several” Unity glide flights for training starting later in May.

He said the company was sticking to earlier schedules that called for glide flights of the new SpaceShip in the third quarter and powered test flights in the fourth quarter before beginning commercial operations. The flight test program, he added, would be much shorter than Unity’s, which took years before the vehicle made its commercial debut in 2021.