Virgin Galactic delays space tourism flights to second quarter 2023

The commercial space tourism service from Virgin Galactic has been delayed yet again, this time until the second quarter of 2023. “Due to the extended completion dates [i.e., delays] within the mothership improvement program," the company stated during its earnings report, "the end-of-year launch was delayed."

The mothership VMS Eve serves as a key component of the launch system, carrying the VSS Unity spacecraft to 50,000 feet before sending it adventuring into space. The improvement program was first announced on July 7th with the aim of increasing flight frequency, reliability, predictability, and durability.

Virgin Galactic also revealed the modifications this week, at the same time as disclosing that Boeing's Aurora Flight Sciences will design and produce its next-generation motherships, which are expected to go into service in 2025. The firm is currently developing a new spacecraft, the VSS Imagine, which is scheduled to perform its maiden test flight in Q1 2023.

Virgin Galactic has delayed its first paid flights from the third quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2022 "out of an abundance of caution" due to a potential flight control system problem. The next flight was supposed to send three Italian Air Force members into space and study how changing from regular Earth gravity to microgravity affects both people and the environment. Yesterday, Virgin Galactic announced a $111 million quarterly loss, with intentions for a $300 million stock offering.