Virgin Galactic has announced its collaboration with Redwire to make the research payload lockers that will be put on Virgin Galactic’s new Delta-Class spaceships. Under the partnership, the new platform will upgrade the microgravity research capabilities available to Virgin Galactic.
Virgin Galactic offers vehicles with a suborbital space lab for researchers, commercial industry, and governments to experiment, qualify technology, and train astronauts in spaceflight and microgravity.
Virgin Galactic’s centralized flight operations at Spaceport America also offer researchers the ability to access dedicated training programs and facilities, science and research preparation labs, runway takeoff and landing data, and immediate access to their research for loading and unloading.
Additionally, Virgin Galactic spaceships are designed with flexibility to hold a blend of payload racks and researcher astronauts supporting both autonomous and human-tended research. Each spaceship can hold five payload racks, for up to 20 lockers total.
Redwire is a space infrastructure company focusing on developing biotech and industrial manufacturing technologies to operate in microgravity. The company has developed 20 research facilities for crewed spacecraft, including 10 currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), to support research and manufacturing missions.
The new platform will also improve and simplify the research experience for Virgin Galactic’s lockers through the customizable “plug-and-play” function to offer real-time data throughout the entire spaceflight.
In addition, those customizable Redwire “plug-and-play” lockers are optimized for both autonomous and human-tended research, with adaptable front panels enabling easier access before, during, and after the spaceflight. With those lockers, researchers can also transport their suborbital experiments to payloads aboard the ISS at a lower cost and lower risk.
Virgin Galactic spaceships are currently in production and the first Delta-Class spaceships are expected to enter commercial operations in 2026.
Virgin Galactic has flown dozens of payloads throughout seven research missions. Some of the research is conducted onboard such as autonomous experiments to advance biological imaging systems for use in potential planetary lander applications and space exploration.
Biological experiments study how gene expression changes as terrestrial organisms transition into the novel space environment, and medical device research to inform astrosurgery capabilities in the event complex procedures.
Other experiments study the combustion characteristics of renewable liquid biofuels, physical science experiments examining how confined fluids behave in low gravity, custom technology, and low energy experiments.
Image & source by Virgin Galactic
