Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Technology

Virgin Galactic to Restart Flight Tests of Commercial Spaceship

  • Trials set for new craft after predecessor’s crash in 2014
  • Company has sold almost 700 tickets at a $250,000 price tag
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip Two VSS Unity spaceship during its roll-out ceremony at the Mojave Air and Space Port in February.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip Two VSS Unity spaceship during its roll-out ceremony at the Mojave Air and Space Port in February.

Photographer: Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Virgin Galactic Ltd., the commercial space company founded by billionaire Richard Branson, is set to resume test flights next month in a new spaceship that replaces the craft that crashed in a fatal accident two years ago.

The company is due to complete ground tests in August and move to testing the vessel in the skies while attached to an aircraft, according to Jonathan Firth, vice president at Virgin Galactic. The spaceship, named Unity, is scheduled to begin the final stage of testing -- independent, fully powered flights -- next year.

Copy Link