WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic has signed an agreement with the Italian government that brings the company a step closer to operating its suborbital s

Virgin Galactic signs agreement to study suborbital spaceflights from Italian spaceport

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2024-12-13 12:30:07

WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic has signed an agreement with the Italian government that brings the company a step closer to operating its suborbital spaceplanes in that country.

The company announced Dec. 12 that it signed a cooperative agreement with Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile (ENAC), Italy’s civil aviation regulator, to study the feasibility of operating the company’s Delta-class suborbital spaceplanes from Grottaglie Airport in southern Italy.

“With momentum building as we look ahead, now, today, is the time for Virgin Galactic to take the critically important next step of assessing the location and the operational feasibility of our first spaceport outside of the United States,” said Michael Colglazier, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, at an event at the Italian Embassy here where the agreement was announced.

The agreement has two phases, said Mike Moses, president of spaceline at Virgin Galactic. The first will examine technical and operational issues from operating at Grottaglie, a general aviation airport that the Italian government designated as a prospective spaceport in 2018.