Galactic 02 (''G02'') was a crewed

sub-orbital spaceflight A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the primary (astronomy), gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital ...

of the

SpaceShipTwo The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) was an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It was manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic. SpaceShipTwo was ...

-class VSS ''Unity'', launched on 10 August 2023. It was the second

commercial spaceflight Private spaceflight is any spaceflight development that is not conducted by a government agency, such as NASA or ESA. During the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneere ...

and seventh overall spaceflight for American aerospace company

Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate, which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and opera ...

. The mission was the first to carry space tourists (people who are not working during the flight), as the previous flight,

Galactic 01 Galactic 01, previously referred to as Unity 23, was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS ''Unity'' which launched on 29 June 2023. The launch was the first commercial spaceflight for Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic Hol ...

, carried astronauts from the

Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...

and the

Italian National Research Council The National Research Council (Italian: ''Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR'') is the largest research council in Italy. As a public organisation, its remit is to support scientific and technological research. Its headquarters are in Rome. ...

(who carried out research experiments during the flight).

Crew

The crew of Galactic 02 included three private passengers and three Virgin Galactic employees. Jon Goodwin became the first Olympian and second person diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

to fly to space, while Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers became the first mother-daughter duo to fly to space. Mayers also became the second youngest person and youngest woman to fly to space, as of August 2023.

Crew

References

See also