Insider Brief:
- Virgin Galactic has completed its new manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona.
- Starting in Q1 2025, this facility will handle the final assembly of the company’s next-generation Delta spaceships.
- The Mesa facility includes two hangars with multiple bays, designed for flexibility in building and testing space vehicles.
- The Delta spaceships will seat up to six private passengers and are expected to fly up to eight missions monthly, significantly increasing access to space.
Virgin Galactic announced it has completed its new manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona. Starting in Q1 2025, this facility will handle the final assembly of the company’s next-generation Delta spaceships.
The facility’s initial team is preparing to install tooling, which is expected to arrive by Q4 2024. Major subassemblies, including the wing, fuselage, and feathering system, will begin arriving next year. Virgin Galactic aims to complete ground testing and ferry the spaceships to Spaceport America in New Mexico for flight tests before commercial operations begin in 2026.
The Mesa facility includes two hangars with multiple bays, designed for flexibility in building and testing space vehicles. The facility will utilize digital twin technology for real-time collaboration between Virgin Galactic and its suppliers, enhancing efficiency and reliability.
Virgin Galactic’s CEO, Michael Colglazier, stated, “The completion of our new manufacturing facility is an important milestone in developing our fleet of next-generation spaceships, the key to our scale and profitability. Tooling will begin arriving in a matter of months to support spaceship final assembly, which we expect to commence in Q1 2025.”
In May 2024, Virgin Galactic opened a ground testing facility in Southern California for Delta subsystems, including avionics, feather actuation, pneumatics, and hydraulics, using an Iron Bird test rig.
The Delta spaceships will seat up to six private passengers and are expected to fly up to eight missions monthly, significantly increasing access to space.
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