Virgin Galactic presented the next, third spacecraft VSS Imagine (3 photos + video)

One of the main competitors of SpaceX Elon Musk,Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic announced the launch of a new SpaceShip 3 spacecraft called the VSS Imagine (VSS - Virgin Space Ship).

In total, Virgin Galactic has commissioned threespacecraft of the same type with a similar design. The VSS Unity ship is currently operational, the second SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise entered service in 2013 and crashed during a test flight in October 2014 due to a control system error. The new SpaceShip 3 VSS Imagine has received a design similar to previous ships, has a unique design of the hull with a mirrored coating, which will add additional aesthetic sensations to tourist flight, and will also contribute to more efficient thermoregulation.

However, in addition to aesthetics, engineers have introduced andsome major changes in the design of the rocket plane. Now the VSS Imagine equipment will be installed on a modular basis, which facilitates the maintenance of the ship, as well as accelerates the process of its modernization.

As planned by Richard Bransonspace tourist flights were supposed to begin in 2009. However, the VSS Enterprise disaster led to the postponement of the launch of the first tourist liner with travelers on board to 2022.

Today the main achievement of the companyVirgin Galactic is launching VSS Unity VP-03 at an altitude of 82.7 km in December 2018. Such an altitude is already outer space by the standards of American aeronautics, while the generally accepted concept transfers the border with space at an altitude of 100 km to the Karman line.

Virgin Galactic spaceplanes use airbornelaunch carried out from the aircraft Scaled Composites White Knight Two from an altitude of 13 to 15 km. Then the ship's own engines are turned on, and the flight begins with an exit into outer space. The new VSS Imagine will be tested in the summer of 2021 at the America Cosmodrome in New Mexico.