VSS Unity VP-03
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VP-03 (also referred to in some sources as PF04) was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity which took place on 13 December 2018, piloted by Mark P. Stucky and co-piloted by Frederick W. "CJ" Sturckow.
Mission type | Crewed suborbital spaceflight |
---|---|
Operator | Virgin Galactic |
Apogee | 82.7 kilometres (51.4 miles) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | VSS Unity |
Spacecraft type | SpaceShipTwo |
Manufacturer | The Spaceship Company |
Crew | |
Members | |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 13 December 2018 |
Launch site | Mojave Runway 30 |
Deployed from | VMS Eve |
End of mission | |
Landing date | 13 December 2018 |
Landing site | Mojave Runway 30 |
VSS Unity was carried aloft by the White Knight Two carrier plane before being released. The spacecraft reached an apogee of 82.7 km (51.4 mi); the flight satisfied the United States definition of spaceflight (50 mi (80.47 km)) but fell short of the Kármán line (100 km (62.14 mi)), the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale definition.[1] The flight was operated by Virgin Galactic, a private company led by Richard Branson who conducted a space tourism flight on 11 July 2021. It was the first crewed spaceflight from U.S. soil since the Space Shuttle mission STS-135 in 2011.