Glider aircraft on Notably News

Glider aircraft

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We include updates on Glide bomb, VSS Enterprise, Space Shuttle orbiter, Hang gliding, Paper plane, I.Ae. 41 Urubú, Antonov A-40, DFS 230, Winged tank, VSS Unity, Schweizer X-26 Frigate, Gotha Go 242, Horten H.I, Lippisch Ente, Opel RAK.1, Blohm & Voss BV 40 ... and more.

June 8 2024	VSS Unity Galactic 07 flight with Nicola Pecile, Jameel Janjua, Tuva Cihangir Atasever, Giorgio Manenti, Irving Pergament, and Andy Sadhwani, reaching Mach 2.96 speed and an altitude of 87.5 km
June 8 2024	VSS Unity VSS Unity was retired after its final flight, as Virgin Galactic transitioned to next-generation Delta-class vehicles.
June 29 2023	VSS Unity First operational flight of Unity (Galactic 01), flying passengers who were not Virgin Galactic employees.
May 25 2023	VSS Unity Final test flight of Unity (Virgin Galactic Unity 25 mission) with only Virgin Galactic personnel onboard.
July 11 2021	VSS Unity VSS Unity 22 flight with David Mackay, Michael Masucci, Sirisha Bandla, Colin Bennett, Beth Moses, and Richard Branson, achieving Mach 3.2 speed
May 22 2021	VSS Unity VSS Unity 21 flight with Dave Mackay and Frederick W. Sturckow, reaching Mach 3 speed
February 2020	VSS Unity VSS Unity and carrier craft VMS Eve were moved to Spaceport America in New Mexico after cabin modifications.
February 22 2019	VSS Unity VSS Unity VF-01 flight with Dave Mackay, Michael Masucci, and passenger Beth Moses, achieving Mach 3.04 speed
December 13 2018	VSS Unity VSS Unity reached space for the first time, crossing the United States' defined space boundary of 50 miles (80.5 km) above sea level during the VP-03 mission.
April 5 2018	VSS Unity First powered flight test of VSS Unity, with a 30-second rocket firing that accelerated the craft to Mach 1.87 and a significant altitude.
2017	SOAR Swiss Space Systems planned the first test launch of the SOAR spaceplane, which was ultimately never realized due to the company's bankruptcy.
2016	SOAR The company planned to begin drop testing of a scaled-down boilerplate spacecraft, which would autonomously land on a runway.
November 2016	SOAR Two criminal cases for fraud were opened in UAE against Amin Forati.
September 2016	SOAR Amin Forati fled Dubai.
September 8 2016	VSS Unity VSS Unity completed its first flight, representing a significant milestone in its operational history.
March 2016	SOAR Amin Forati opened a bank guarantee of US$30 million in favour of S3 through D&B Groups, though this was insufficient to prevent the company's bankruptcy.
February 19 2016	VSS Unity VSS Unity was rolled out, marking its first public presentation and physical completion.
2015	SOAR Swiss Space Systems announced a partnership with D&B Group to create S3 Middle East subsidiary, aiming to pursue SOAR launch certification in the United Arab Emirates.
2015	SOAR Swiss Space Systems announced plans to begin test flights of the SOAR spaceplane in 2016.
May 21 2015	VSS Unity VSS Unity reached a structural milestone by bearing its own airframe weight on its wheels.
2014	SOAR S3 USA Operations Inc subsidiary was formed, with plans to use the retired Space Shuttle landing site at Kennedy Space Center for SOAR operations.
September 2014	VSS Unity VSS Unity's aircraft registration N202VG was filed.
September 2014	SOAR Test firings of the SOAR spaceplane's engine were planned to begin in late 2015.
2013	SOAR Swiss Space Systems declared intentions to upgrade SOAR spaceplane for human spaceflight and announced a partnership with Thales Alenia Space to design a pressurized compartment for occupants.
2013	SOAR Swiss Space Systems partnered with Bauman Moscow State Technical University to facilitate academic exchange between Russia and Switzerland for the SOAR spaceplane project.
2012	VSS Unity Manufacture of VSS Unity spacecraft began.

This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles SOAR (spaceplane) & VSS Unity, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.