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hubie [soylentnews.org] writes:

Virgin Galactic pushes back commercial suborbital flights to 2023 [spacenews.com]:

Virgin Galactic is again postponing the start of commercial service of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane from late 2022 to early 2023, blaming the latest delay on supply chain and labor issues.

[...] Michael Colglazier, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, noted in an earnings call that it was experiencing “elevated levels of supply chain disruption” and hiring that was not keeping pace with projections. [...]

[...] Asked later about specific supply chain issues, Colglazier mentioned availability of “high-performance metallics” used on the vehicles, which primarily are made of carbon composites. [...]

The other issue is hiring. Virgin Galactic is expanding its engineering staff, but he said most of the new employees are working on the design of the company’s new “Delta-class” spaceplane that the company expects to enter service in mid-decade. Existing staff, he said, are spread out working on Unity, Eve and Imagine, the new suborbital spaceplane now slated to enter commercial service in mid-2023.

[...] Virgin Galactic is still seeing strong interest in suborbital flights despite the delays. The company now has 800 customers signed up, and Colglazier said the company should easily reach its goal of having 1,000 customers once commercial service begins in early 2023.

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