Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity successfully completed its first fully crewed test flight on July 11, 2021, and a fleet of Land Rover vehicles took part in this historic spaceflight by being support vehicles for the crew and of course, to also tow the VSS Unity. The crew included two pilots — Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci and four passengers — Richard Branson, Beth Moses, Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla, who all received “commercial astronaut” titles post landing. Since this was sort of a demo for upcoming commercial spaceflights, the three of four passengers were Virgin Galactic employees.
Land Rover has been a partner for Virgin Galactic since 2014, supporting day-to-day operations including towing and crew transportation at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The fleet includes Defender 110 and a special Astronaut Edition — based on the luxurious Range Rover Autobiography. The fleet had also helped Virgin Galactic relocate its manufacturing and test facilities from Mojave, California, to the current base in New Mexico.
On the exterior, the Astronaut Edition is finished in a unique Zero Gravity Blue paint, complemented by VSS Unity icon badging on the B-pillars. Inside, there are Virgin Galactic icons that showcase the evolution from aviation to spaceflight. Also, notice the contrast blue stitching.
The Astronaut Edition is available exclusively to the members of the Virgin Galactic future astronaut community. It’ll be offered either with a 404 hp P400e plug-in hybrid powertrain or a 525 hp 5.0-litre supercharged V8. Apparently, around 600 people have signed up with Virgin Galactic to be future commercial astronauts.
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