Virgin Galactic said that the last (7th) rocket plane “glide” test on space tourism was a success, almost reaching sound speed over California.
The Unity spacecraft was flown into the air on the mother ship on January 11 and lowered over the Mojave Desert.
The aircraft immediately moved to a steep descent and accelerated to Mach 0.9 to test stability and control under the action of forces. It was an imitation of rocket launching conditions for suborbital flights in the lower lanes of space.
Virgin Galactic representatives said nothing about whether the program is ready to go on test flights on rocket engines.
