Virgin Galactic Again Postponed Flights With Space Tourists
Virgin Galactic is postponing its space tourism program to the second quarter of 2023.
Virgin Galactic has delayed the start of its commercial flights by another three months, citing delays in repairs to its carrier aircraft.
In the company’s May 5 first-quarter earnings report, Virgin Galactic said it expects to begin commercial flights of its VSS Unity spaceplane in the first quarter of 2023 after completing upgrades to the vehicle and VMS Eve, its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft. The company previously planned to launch those flights in the fourth quarter of 2022, a schedule it confirmed in February when it released its 2021 financial results.
Michael Colglaser, Virgin Galactic’s chief executive, noted in the earnings report that the company was facing “an increased level of supply chain disruption” and recruitment that fell short of forecasts. “Our hiring forecasts and our forecast for some long lead material shipments suggest that we may need additional schedule contingencies,” he said. “For this reason, we are postponing the expected start of commercial operation from Q4 22 to Q1 23.”
In addition, there are still problems with the recruitment of personnel who will serve the flights. To date, more than 800 out of 1,000 available tickets have been purchased. The last 100 places are expected to be reserved for private and public researchers.
