USA: Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company based in California, is preparing for an important mission right now. The business will launch Unity 25, its final crewed test flight, into suborbital space. Before commercial services start in late June, the Unity 25 crew will give their final evaluation of the entire astronaut and spaceflight experience, according to a statement from Virgin Galactic.

The start of Virgin Galactic's commercial space flights is now just a matter of steps away. In other words, those who are interested can schedule a trip, and the company will pick them up. It will be Virgin Galactic's fifth space flight with the Unity 25 mission. Additionally, it will be the company's first space mission in more than two years.

Eight people will be involved in the Unity 25 mission, six of whom will crew the VSS Unity spacecraft and the other two will fly the carrier plane, the VMS Eve. The VSS Unity spacecraft will be released by the VMS Eve aircraft once it has ascended to a height of 50,000 feet, or roughly 15 km above the surface of the Earth.

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When VSS Unity is let go from the carrier aircraft, it will ignite its rocket engines and accelerate to Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). It will ascend to 80 km, which is regarded as the outer limit of space. Passengers will have a brief opportunity to feel weightless during suborbital space travel. Later on today, the test flight will take off from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

If Unity 25 goes as planned, Virgin Galactic will then begin offering commercial passenger services the following month. According to the company's official website, the 'Galactic 01' passenger flight is scheduled to take off in late June. For upcoming space flights, the company is accepting 600 reservations at a cost of $450,000 per seat, or roughly Rs. 3.7 crore.

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The eight crew members on board the test flight of Unity 25 are all Virgin Galactic employees. VSS Unity will be piloted by C.J. Sturckow and commanded by Mike Masucci, a former astronaut.

Nicola Pecile will operate the VMS Eve under the direction of Jameel Janjua. Beth Moses (chief astronaut instructor), Luke Mays (astronaut instructor), Christopher Huie, and Jamila Gilbert are the four people travelling in Unity's cabin. Gilbert and Huie will work as mission experts. Unity 25 will be Mays, Huie, and Gilbert's first space flight; Moses has made two previous space flights.

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A significant accomplishment for Virgin Galactic will be Unity 25. Virgin Galactic sent its final spacecraft in July 2021. Sirisha Bandla, who is of Indian descent, and four other passengers were also on the 90-minute trip that was led by Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. Over the last two years, the company has updated and tested VSS Unity and VMS Eve.