Virgin Galactic has completed its second research-based spaceflight of 2023 and sixth successful spaceflight in the past six months, the company has said.

The Galactic 05 mission saw Virgin Galactic’s spaceship converted into a suborbital lab for space-based scientific research for the second time.

Dr Alan Stern, planetary scientist and associate vice president in Southwest Research Institute’s space sector, flew with two human-tended experiments, including a biomedical harness to collect physiological data related to human spaceflight.

Stern also conducted practice routines and procedures in preparation for a future NASA-funded suborbital research flight.

Kellie Gerardi, US payload specialist and bioastronautics researcher for the International Institute for Astronomical Sciences flew with three payloads, two of which evaluated healthcare technologies in microgravity conditions through the collection of biometric data.

The third payload examined how confined fluid behaves to inform future healthcare technologies in space.

Commenting on the mission, Geraldi said: “The suborbital science potential for Institutes like ours is unprecedented and I’m also struck by the broader societal impact of commercial human spaceflight – after today’s mission, Virgin Galactic is now responsible for producing 10 per cent of the world’s female astronauts, and I look forward to seeing that number soar for my daughter’s generation.”

Galactic 05 proceeded previous research-based mission Galactic 01, a mission with the Italian Air Force and National Research Council.

“Providing researchers with reliable and repeatable access to a high-quality microgravity environment is vital to our mission of expanding human knowledge and enabling scientific discoveries,” said Virgin Galactic chief executive Michael Colglazier.

“We will use insights from the mission to enhance the research capabilities of our future Delta-class spaceships,” he added.

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