Virgin Galactic rocket plane, Unity, launched to the edge of space

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo vehicle VSS Unity is launched to a height of 89km, before gliding back down to Earth.

Eve took off yesterday (May 22) around 10:35 a.m. EDT with Unity underneath it. After 50 minutes, Unity was dropped and fired its engine to the edge of space.

It's the third test flight of the vehicle, and it took off from Virgin Galactic's commercial hub, Spaceport America in New Mexico. It's the 1st human spaceflight ever to depart from the state. 

By the end of the year, Unity will hopefully be fully licensed by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  By then, the 600 paying customers, including movie stars will be able to take the flight. 

Unity seen launching upwards from its 'mother', Eve.

Image credit: Virgin Galactic

The vehicle achieved Mach 3, three times the speed of sound with an apogee of 89.2 km (55.45 miles). 

There were no one onboard Unity, only some scientific payloads as part of NASA's Flight Opportunities program. 

Unity's view of the curvature of the Earth and the blackness of space. 

Image credit: Virgin Galactic 

"It was such a perfect flight. We'll get the data off the ship and give it to the FAA. That'll be our homework turned in. We believe we've now collected everything we need for the final points on our commercial license," CEO Michael Colglazie said. 

Author: Wei Hao (Malaysia)

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