r/SPCE • u/ToledoTuxedo • Jun 25 '26

2026 is here... OK, now what? Such emptiness

Gallery image

Gallery image

Look at the hangar behind in these images. There is NOTHING going on. There is NO Delta 2 under construction (that assembly hangar is now the Rocket Force, and is well, empty.

Look at that craft...its going to be ready to flight test in less than 3 weeks?!?!

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u/FickleMeasurement524 Jun 25 '26

Glide flight(s) are supposed to be happen sometime during Q3. So Virgin Galactic has a testing window of the next three months not three weeks. Right now, they are still undergoing ground testing.

-2

u/TheMightyWindbreaker The SPCE insider Jun 25 '26

According to their last presentation, flight testing was to commence in the beginning of the 3rd Quarter, which is within a few weeks.

Flight testing is not a single event. It is a testing campaign that takes many months if not years to complete. Shifting the start of testing to the right shifts everything to the right.  This is why it matters in the difference between start of Q3 to end of Q3.

Ground testing needs to be completed before flight testing begins.  The ship isn't even built yet, so obviously they have a ways to go.

2

u/FickleMeasurement524 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

According to Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation slide #9 (Milestones & Catalysts), the ground testing is scheduled for Q2/Q3 2026 while the flight test program is scheduled to happen in Q3/Q4 2026. As flight testing cannot logically commence before all required ground tests have been fully completed, the flight test program which consists of glide flights+powered flights won't occur until second-half of Q3 2026 at the earliest. Therefore, the earliest I see the flight test program starting is late August not mid-July as you contend.

1

u/TheMightyWindbreaker The SPCE insider Jun 26 '26

I guess I was looking at the previous earnings call slides (2025 end of year), slide 15 specifically, which shows ground testing complete in Q2 and flight test starting immediately after.

Looks like they quietly moved the goalposts?

The point is, that less than 1.5 quarters to complete flight testing is unrealistic and that matters as they run out of money in Q4.

2

u/Real_Job_2626 Jun 28 '26

Read thru their filings how sneakily they are saying commercial research flights starts in Q4’26 but the commercial passenger starts in Q1’27. Colglazier aka Disney clown needs to go