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Thursday, June 20, 2024 Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) disclosed today its new partnership with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), arranging for three IIAS research astronauts to journey aboard Virgin Galactic’s upcoming Delta Class spacecraft. This collaboration marks the second joint research endeavor between the two entities, building on the success of the “Galactic 05” mission in November 2023.

During that mission, innovative healthcare technologies were tested, and studies on fluid dynamics in microgravity were conducted to advance the development of medical technologies and life-support systems. The upcoming mission is scheduled within the initial year of the Delta Class’s commercial operations, which are on course to begin in 2026. “We were thrilled with the results from our fluid cell experiment on ‘ Galactic 05’ , which demonstrated our ability to accurately predict the behavior of fluid in a container in a weightless environment.



We’ll be expanding on that research for our next mission, and I’ll be working to demonstrate our ability to control the behavior of the liquid as well,” said astronaut and IIAS Director of Human Spaceflight Operations Kellie Gerardi . “The quality and repeatability of the microgravity environment provided by Virgin Galactic’s system is truly game-changing and the potential for a ‘fly, fix, fly’ approach opens the door to many exciting possibilities for IIAS to make discove.

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