“The Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) congratulates the entire team at Virgin Galactic (VG) for the first successful glide test of the VSS Unity.” said Eric Stallmer, president of CSF. “This puts the VG team one step closer to their goal of making access to space frequent and safe. We are anxiously awaiting to see what great things they do in the upcoming new year.”
According to the team at VG, “this marks the the first ever free flight by Unity, the first SpaceShip built by our in-house manufacturing team.” Its flight was completed at Mojave Air & Spaceport, another CSF member company.
“This successful flight is a great accomplishment by Virgin Galactic, and another exciting step forward on the road to the coming era of commercial suborbital spaceflight.” said Alan Stern, Chairman of the Board of CSF and Associate Vice President of Space Science and Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute.
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is the leading voice for the commercial spaceflight industry. Founded in 2006, CSF and its 70+ members are laying the foundation for a sustainable space economy and democratizing access to space for scientists, students, civilians, and businesses. CSF members are responsible for the creation of thousands of high-tech jobs driven by billions of dollars in investment. Through the promotion of technology innovation, CSF is guiding the expansion of Earth’s economic sphere, bolstering U.S. leadership in aerospace, and inspiring America’s next generation of engineers and explorers.
