Space travel company Virgin Galactic on Wednesday said it had reached an agreement with Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to build two new air launch carrier aircraft for its spaceships.

These new motherships will replace Virgin Galactic‘s existing carrier plane — the VMS Eve built by Scaled Composites — with the first of the new aircraft due to enter service by 2025. The company also plans to launch new Delta-class spaceships the same year.

The value of the contract was not disclosed.

Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement the next generation motherships “will be faster to produce, easier to maintain and will allow us to fly substantially more missions each year.”

He added the goal was 400 flights per year from the company’s base in New Mexico, called Spaceport America.

Todd Citron, Boeing‘s Chief Technology Officer added, “Boeing is excited to contribute our culture of safety, our operational excellence, and our expertise in aircraft design and manufacturing to help advance human space travel.”

The statement did not however offer any technical details.

Established in 2004, Virgin Galactic is looking to build on the success of a high profile test mission in 2021, which saw its founder Richard Branson experience a few minutes’ weightlessness on the edge of space.

Unlike other companies that use vertical-launch rockets, Virgin Galactic uses a carrier aircraft that takes off from a runway, gains high altitude, and drops a rocket-powered spaceplane that soars into space before gliding back to Earth.

Both VMS Eve and the company’s spaceplane VMS Unity are at the company’s production facility in Mojave, California, where they are undergoing maintenance. Virgin Galactic said its first commercial missions will begin in the first quarter of 2023.


For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on Twitter, Facebook, and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Apple Watch ‘Extreme Sports’ Version Reportedly Expected to Launch This Year

You May Also Like

Scientists Study Shrinking Mini-Neptunes to Understand Planetary Evolution

Scientists have discovered four exoplanets that appear to be shrinking in size…
Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing Anticipation Builds in India After Russia’s Luna-25 Crash

Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing Anticipation Builds in India After Russia’s Luna-25 Crash

India’s space agency on Monday released images its spacecraft took of the…
Imaging method could detect Parkinson’s disease up to 20 years before symptoms appear – Physics World

Imaging method could detect Parkinson’s disease up to 20 years before symptoms appear – Physics World

Imaging method could detect Parkinson’s disease up to 20 years before symptoms…
Light evaporates water without heating it – Physics World

Light evaporates water without heating it – Physics World

Light evaporates water without heating it – Physics World Skip to main…