Virgin Galactic's 4th Flight Sends First Pakistani to Space

Virgin Galactic continues to make strides in the realm of space travel, achieving another historic milestone.

In its groundbreaking "Galactic 04" mission, the company achieved the successful launch of its first-ever Pakistani astronaut, Namira Salim, the founder and chairperson of the nonprofit Space Trust. The mission took off from New Mexico's Spaceport America on October 6.

This achievement follows closely on the heels of Virgin Galactic's Galactic 02 flight, which, less than two months ago, saw the first former Olympian and the inaugural mother-daughter duo embark on a journey to the final frontier. Among them, 18-year-old Anastatia Mayers became the youngest spaceflyer in history during that mission.

Galactic 04 initiated at 11:28 a.m. EDT (1528 GMT) as the VSS Unity space plane, riding under the wings of its carrier craft, VMS Eve, soared into the New Mexico skies. Unity was released at 12:10 p.m. EDT (1610 GMT), reaching an altitude of 44,341 feet (13,515 meters). Unity then engaged its onboard rocket motor, propelling it into suborbital space, reaching a top speed of Mach 2.95, nearly three times the speed of sound.

The passengers, including Namira Salim, British advertising executive Trevor Beattie, and American astronomy educator Ron Rosano, enjoyed several minutes of weightlessness and witnessed Earth against the backdrop of space. They reached a peak altitude of 54.3 miles (87.4 kilometers).

Unity's mission concluded around 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 GMT) when it touched down at Spaceport America, as reported by Virgin Galactic.

Beth Moses, Virgin Galactic's chief astronaut instructor, joined the passengers inside Unity's cabin. The space plane was piloted by Kelly Latimer and C.J. Sturckow, while Nicola Pecile and Jameel Janjua were at the controls of VMS Eve during the mission. (VMS Eve also safely returned to Spaceport America.)

As the mission's name suggests, Galactic 04 marked Virgin's fourth commercial spaceflight. Ron Rosano, Trevor Beattie, and Namira Salim became the 17th, 18th, and 19th astronauts to fly with the company, according to Virgin Galactic.

This achievement further adds to Namira Salim's already impressive adventure portfolio, as she is the first Pakistani to journey to both the North and South Poles. Salim holds the title of one of Virgin Galactic's "Founder Astronauts," having purchased her ticket back in 2006 for $200,000—a price that has since risen to $450,000.

In the realm of suborbital space tourism, Virgin Galactic's main competitor remains Blue Origin, the aerospace company led by Jeff Bezos. However, Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle has not flown since an unmanned research flight mishap in September 2022.

Source: space.com