Virgin Galactic@virgingalactic·VMS Eve soars again! 🚀 Our launch vehicle is back in the skies, completing a functional check flight that paves the way for spaceflight in 2026!
VMS Eve soars again! 🚀 Our launch vehicle is back in the skies, completing a functional check flight that paves the way for spaceflight in 2026!
Sep 17, 2025Gravity demands enormous energy to leave Earth. Virgin Galactic uses an air launch system that starts with its launch vehicle as its first stage. The greatest advantage of an aircraft as our first stage? Cost efficiency and high reusability, backed by over 120 years of aviation technology. Get to know our launch vehicle in this episode of We Build SpaceShips.Welcome to Virgin Galactic - The Spaceline for Earth.
Who caught VMS Eve on FlightRadar24 this morning? Soaring high at over 50,000 feet today, we explored new airspace near the New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico border—stunning views of 3 states, 2 countries, 1 shared region.
“Without avionics, the spaceship doesn’t do very much. It’s the nervous system of the vehicle.” Behind every Virgin Galactic flight lies a symphony of sensors, wiring, and data, transforming thousands of signals into information our pilots can trust. Watch how avionics brings our spacecraft to life in episode 7 of We Build SpaceShips.
There is definitely progress, but my armchair opinion is that they seem about 6 months behind their schedule of flight testing in Q3 2026. So I can't imagine a first test flight before the end of Q1 2027. It's nice to see actual flight hardware coming to the factory and begin integration. It's also encouraging that this is all part of a production line, so as long as they can get the first SpaceShip off the ground, then they should be quite quick in building the next ship. The factory has capacity for six Spaceships per year, though I have no idea why they planned for such capacity.A back of the envelope calculation (and some help from Grok) suggests that they have about 1.5 years of cash left, given their current runway and future cashflow estimations. It'll be tight.
Also they have hundreds of deposits from people going back a decade or more. Thse will have to be launched for little or no monies.
Quote from: daedalus1 on 11/20/2025 07:58 amAlso they have hundreds of deposits from people going back a decade or more. Thse will have to be launched for little or no monies. Sure, but once they start flying those customers, they will be able to sell 100's of tickets for new customers at $600k a pop. And their CapEx will be much lower. So they will be cash-flow positive in that scenario. I'm not sure though what their criteria or miletstone is for selling new tickets. That's an important variable that would be nice to know.
I doubt there are hundreds of people willing to spend more than half a million dollars to not even reach the Karman line.
Quote from: daedalus1 on 11/20/2025 08:51 amI doubt there are hundreds of people willing to spend more than half a million dollars to not even reach the Karman line. The entire business plan of VG is that there are 1000's of people willing to do so. They are planning on 8 flights per month per ship, so over 500 people per year per ship (leaving some flights for research payloads).
Hello, Arizona! Our Launch Vehicle Eve completed its inaugural flight from gateway-to gateway today – from The Gateway to Space in NM to the Mesa Gateway Airport in AZ. Today’s milestone validated new airspace routes and operational procedures, clearing the runway for future spaceship transport flights.
ROLL THE HIGHLIGHTS: Eve's inaugural flight from gateway-to-gateway ✅
Virgin Galactic today announced a new collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (“LLNL”), a research and development institution operated for the U.S. Department of Energy. The collaboration will assess potential for utilizing LLNL sensor systems aboard Virgin Galactic launch vehicles in the future, with the aim of gathering critical data and accelerating the development of next-generation image-capture capabilities aboard high-altitude, long-endurance, heavy-lift (“HALE-Heavy”) aircraft.“Our launch vehicle has remarkable performance characteristics that can support a variety of high-altitude mission needs” said Michael Colglazier, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic. “This feasibility study with Lawrence Livermore National Lab is an important step in determining how our vehicle can advance breakthrough technology development in the future.”Ben Bahney, LLNL’s program leader for space, added: “Our collaboration with Virgin Galactic advances our ability to test and refine our systems in a real-world, high-altitude environment. We are excited to explore the unique combination of altitudes, endurance, and payload capacity of Virgin Galactic’s launch vehicles, which could provide unique opportunities to apply and advance LLNL’s optical sensing technologies.”
Inside the four walls of Virgin Galactic’s spaceship factory, our team is building the next-gen fleet with precision—every part designed for hundreds of safe flights. Parts flowing in weekly. Systems installing. Structures rising. This is the spaceship factory in full motion. Dive into Episode 8 of We Build SpaceShips.
In Q3 2026 Virgin Galactic is preparing to bring its first new spaceship to New Mexico to complete its flight test program, before its first scheduled commercial flight in Q4, 2026.[...]These next-generation spaceships are designed to fly up to eight missions per month, each carrying six passengers. With the initial fleet of two spaceships and one launch vehicle Virgin Galactic has stated it will be capable of flying up to 750 people annually.
