VSS Unity Returns to the Skies In Preparation For New Spaceship Flight Test Program

Key Terms

Mission Control technical

A centralized team and system that coordinates and monitors a company’s critical operations, product launches, regulatory filings, or crisis responses in real time—think of it as an air-traffic-control center for business activities. Investors care because a functioning mission control reduces execution risk, helps keep projects on schedule, enables fast, coordinated responses to problems, and therefore supports more reliable financial forecasts and preserves corporate reputation.

rocket-powered test flights technical

Rocket-powered test flights are controlled trial launches of a rocket or rocket-powered vehicle to evaluate performance, safety and operability before full commercial or operational use. For investors they act like a road-test for a new product: successful flights can validate technology, reduce technical and regulatory risk, unlock future revenue or contracts, and often serve as clear milestones that influence company valuation and funding needs.

energy-management profile technical

An energy-management profile describes how an organization consumes, produces, stores and controls energy across its operations — including efficiency measures, backup systems and use of renewables. For investors it signals expected operating costs, exposure to fuel or grid price swings, regulatory and environmental risks, and potential savings from efficiency upgrades. Think of it like a household’s energy budget and insulation: a better profile usually means lower bills and fewer surprises.

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• Glide flights support pilot training and proficiency
• Ground crew, maintenance, and Mission Control teams build operational readiness ahead of new Spaceship operations
• New Spaceship glide flights expected in Q3 2026; commercial spaceflight operations expected to begin Q4 2026

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In advance of the first flight test of Virgin Galactic’s next generation Spaceship, the company announced today that VSS Unity, its prototype Spaceship, has returned to the skies above Spaceport America in New Mexico for the first of several anticipated glide flights. These flights are designed to prepare the company’s pilots and operations teams ahead of new Spaceship operations.

“Unity's glide characteristics and energy-management profile provide an outstanding real-world proxy for our new Spaceship,” said Virgin Galactic Spaceline President Mike Moses. “Using a proven vehicle in this way prepares our pilots and operations teams to move through flight testing for our new Spaceship more efficiently and with greater confidence than simulator training alone could provide."

Unity's glide profile, landing approach and view from the cockpit match the new Spaceship, giving pilots live experience in the glide conditions they will encounter when the new vehicle takes flight.

The glide flights are as much about what happens on the ground as in the air. Ground crew, maintenance teams, and Mission Control are all running live operations, building the rhythm, muscle memory, and cross-team coordination needed to support an increasing cadence of spaceflight activity as the new Spaceship program advances.

Virgin Galactic expects to perform glide tests with the first of its new Spaceships in Q3 2026 and rocket-powered test flights to space in Q4 2026. These next-generation Spaceships are designed to fly twice per week with an expected vehicle lifetime of more than 500 missions – intended to unlock the economics of a spaceline built to be profitable at scale.

About Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic is an aerospace and space travel company, pioneering human-first spaceflight for private individuals, researchers, and governments with its advanced Spaceships and launch vehicle. Scale and profitability are driven by next-generation vehicles capable of taking humans to space at an unprecedented frequency with an industry-leading cost structure. You can find more information at https://www.virgingalactic.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding Virgin Galactic’s spaceflight systems, and planned timeline for glide flights, testing and commercial service using Virgin Galactic’s Spaceships and preparation for Virgin Galactic’s pilots and operations teams, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “potential,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “strategy,” “future,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “target,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause Virgin Galactic’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to any delay in future testing or commercial flights of Virgin Galactic’s spaceflight fleet, Virgin Galactic’s ability to successfully develop and test its next generation vehicles, and the time and costs associated with doing so, Virgin Galactic’s expected capital requirements and the availability of additional financing, and the other factors, risks and uncertainties included in Virgin Galactic’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, as such factors may be updated from time to time in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of Virgin Galactic’s website at www.virgingalactic.com, which could cause its actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While Virgin Galactic may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it disclaims any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause its views to change.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260527635284/en/

For media inquiries:
Aleanna Crane - Vice President, Communications
news@virgingalactic.com
575.800.4422

Source: Virgin Galactic