Purdue University has announced a partnership with Virgin Galactic for a dedicated suborbital spaceflight mission scheduled for 2027. The mission, named 'Purdue 1', will carry a team of university researchers, students, and alumni into space to conduct scientific experiments in a microgravity environment.
This collaboration marks a significant step in providing academic institutions with direct access to space. The flight will utilize Virgin Galactic's next-generation Delta class spaceplane, which is expected to begin commercial service in 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Purdue University and Virgin Galactic will launch the 'Purdue 1' suborbital mission in 2027.
- The flight will carry five passengers from the Purdue community to conduct microgravity research.
- Passengers include Professor Steven Collicott, graduate student Abigail Mizzi, and three alumni.
- The mission will use Virgin Galactic's new Delta class vehicle, which is currently in development.
- Funding for the mission comes from NASA, private donations, and self-funded alumni participants.
A Legacy of Space Exploration
Purdue University, located in Indiana, has a long and distinguished history in human spaceflight. Often referred to as the "Cradle of Astronauts," the institution has produced more astronauts than nearly any other university. This legacy adds significant weight to the upcoming 'Purdue 1' mission.
The 'Cradle of Astronauts'
To date, 28 Purdue alumni have been selected for spaceflight or have flown to space. This exclusive group includes some of the most iconic figures in the history of space exploration. Among them are Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon, and Gene Cernan, the most recent person to do so.
Other notable Purdue alumni in space include Apollo 1 astronaut Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee. The university's connection to NASA continues into the modern era, with alumni Adam Fuhrmann and Yuri Kubo recently being named to NASA's 2025 astronaut class.
Expanding Academic Access to Space
The 'Purdue 1' mission represents a growing trend of academic and research institutions utilizing commercial spaceflight. Companies like Virgin Galactic provide a more accessible and frequent path to microgravity, allowing for experiments that were previously limited to government space agencies. This shift is expected to accelerate scientific discovery in various fields.
Mission Details and Objectives
The 'Purdue 1' mission is designed primarily as a research flight. The passenger manifest and cabin configuration have been specifically tailored to support scientific objectives. The flight will carry two pilots and five passengers from the Purdue community, with one of the standard six passenger seats removed to make room for research equipment.
The mission team includes Professor Steven Collicott from Purdue's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, graduate student Abigail Mizzi, and alumnus Jason Williamson. Two additional alumni will also be part of the flight, with their names to be announced at a later date.
"This mission with Purdue University is a powerful demonstration of what becomes possible when research institutions and educators gain direct access to the microgravity environment," said Mike Moses, President of Spaceline for Virgin Galactic. Moses is also a Purdue alumnus and a former NASA space shuttle launch integration manager.
Pioneering Microgravity Research
The core of the mission involves two key experiments that will be personally conducted by the researchers during the flight. This hands-on approach is a major advantage of human-tended suborbital flights, allowing for real-time adjustments and observations.
Professor Collicott's research will focus on the behavior of liquids on surfaces in zero gravity, a phenomenon known as fluid dynamics. Understanding how liquids spread and adhere in space is critical for designing life support systems, fuel tanks, and plant growth systems for future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.
"If you spill water on your kitchen counter, you’ll see it spreads more in some ways than others," Collicott explained. "We need to get this important data to learn more about these flows to aid in spaceflight hardware design for future long-duration missions."
Graduate student Abigail Mizzi will conduct a separate experiment investigating how liquids oscillate in a weightless environment. Both studies aim to gather fundamental data that can improve the reliability and efficiency of systems used in space.
Flight Funding Model
The mission's funding is a hybrid model. Professor Collicott's seat was secured through a competitive research grant from NASA's Flight Opportunities program. Abigail Mizzi's participation is being funded by donations made to Purdue University. The three alumni on the flight are paying for their own seats, demonstrating a new avenue for private citizens to participate in space research.
Virgin Galactic's Next Chapter
The 'Purdue 1' mission will be one of the early flights for Virgin Galactic's next-generation spaceplane, the Delta class. The company is currently in a planned operational pause to focus on the production of these new vehicles, which are central to its strategy for scaling up its commercial spaceflight operations.
Virgin Galactic's flight system uses a unique air-launch method. A large, twin-fuselage carrier aircraft, known as the mothership, carries the spaceplane to an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet (15,000 meters). The spaceplane is then released, ignites its hybrid rocket motor, and ascends to suborbital space, providing passengers with several minutes of weightlessness and views of Earth.
Transition to the Delta Class
The company completed its seventh commercial flight with its original spaceplane, VSS Unity, in June 2024 before retiring the vehicle. The new Delta class vehicles are designed for a much higher flight cadence and lower operational costs. They are expected to be capable of flying up to eight missions per month, a significant increase over the VSS Unity's capabilities.
Key features of the Delta class include:
- Increased Capacity: Designed to carry six passengers, compared to the four-passenger capacity of VSS Unity.
- Rapid Turnaround: Engineered for quicker maintenance and preparation between flights.
- Improved Efficiency: Lower per-flight costs, which is crucial for profitability and market expansion.
The first Delta class spaceplanes are projected to begin flight tests in 2025, with commercial service slated to start in 2026. This timeline places the 'Purdue 1' mission among the initial wave of scientific and private astronaut flights on the new platform.
While the last published ticket price for a seat on VSS Unity was $600,000, Virgin Galactic has not yet announced pricing for the Delta class flights. It is widely expected that the price will be higher, reflecting the advanced capabilities of the new system and strong market demand.
This collaboration between a historic space-faring university and a commercial spaceflight pioneer highlights a new era of space access. By enabling researchers to fly with their own experiments, missions like 'Purdue 1' are set to accelerate scientific progress and inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators.