Land Rover was part of Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed space flight conducted recently.
With its founder Sir Richard Branson on board as one of the four mission specialists, Virgin Galactic completed its first ever fully crewed space flight.
SpaceShipTwo Unity craft travelled with four Mission Specialists and two pilots on board.
The six-strong crew started and completed their mission at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Sir Richard arrived for the ‘Unity 22’ mission in a Range Rover Astronaut Edition and after a safe landing his spacecraft was towed back to waiting well-wishers by a Land Rover Defender 110.
The company’s fourth crewed spaceflight was the first to carry a full crew. Those in the cabin experienced out-of-seat weightlessness and witnessed incredible views of Earth from space.
Audiences around the world watched the space flight’s livestream, witnessing the first-hand extraordinary experience Virgin Galactic is creating for future astronauts.
CEO and President of Jaguar Land Rover North America, Joe Eberhardt stated:
“This is an incredible technical and human achievement for the Virgin Galactic team as they took personal adventure to thrilling new heights,”
“Land Rover is proud to have supported this exciting mission and we look forward to supporting all the flights into the future.” he further added.
Virgin Galactic is the world’s first commercial ‘spaceline’ and has already signed up around 600 Future Astronaut customers.
All the 600 astronaut customers will be transported to their flights in vehicles supplied by Virgin Galactic’s partner Land Rover.
Land Rovers are part of daily life for the Virgin Galactic team, with roles which include towing the space vehicles, carrying equipment and clearing runways before take-off for the first private company to fly humans into space in a craft designed for commercial service.
Stephen Attenborough, Chief Customer Officer for Virgin Galactic, said: “Land Rover has been by our side, on our side and part of our daily lives at Virgin Galactic since 2014. It was completely fitting that these capable, luxurious and iconic vehicles played a central part in today’s historic events. As we look ahead to the start of a full commercial service, we couldn’t be more delighted to know that Land Rover will be going Above and Beyond, as together we open space to change the world for good.”
Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson and Jaguar Land Rover Chief Creative Officer Prof Gerry McGovern OBE unveiled the Range Rover Astronaut Edition in 2019. Created by Land Rover SV Bespoke and offered exclusively to Virgin Galactic Future Astronaut customers, these luxury SUVs celebrate the partnership’s shared values and the Future Astronaut community’s historic contribution to the democratization of space.