The ‘Galactic 03’ crew bought their tickets as early as 2005 and, since then, have been an active part of Virgin Galactic’s Future Astronaut community. This community – comprised of approximately 800 individuals representing over 60 different countries – enjoys access to distinctive experiences designed to inspire and to enrich their spaceflight experience.
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GLOVirgin Galactic has announced the ‘Galactic 03’ flight window will open on 8 September, 2023, continuing a monthly cadence of spaceflights. This would be the company’s fourth spaceflight in four months.
The three ‘Galactic 03’ crew members are the first of Virgin Galactic’s group of ‘Founder’ astronauts – the first customers whose forward-thinking vision and early ticket purchases helped make the dream of regular commercial spaceflights a reality.
The ‘Galactic 03’ crew bought their tickets as early as 2005 and, since then, have been an active part of Virgin Galactic’s Future Astronaut community. This community – comprised of approximately 800 individuals representing over 60 different countries – enjoys access to distinctive experiences designed to inspire and to enrich their spaceflight experience.
The pilots for ‘Galactic 03’ are VSS Unity Commander, Nicola Pecile, and VSS Unity Pilot, Michael Masucci; the Astronaut Instructor is Colin Bennett.
In the past 12 weeks, Virgin Galactic has introduced 11 new astronauts to the world. Following the ‘Galactic 03’ spaceflight, the customers on board would become Virgin Galactic astronauts 014, 015 and 016.
Virgin Galactic recently completed its first private astronaut flight, ‘Galactic 02’, achieving multiple historic milestones by flying private astronauts Jon Goodwin from the United Kingdom, and Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers from Antigua and Barbuda.
Source: Virgin
