VG CEO Michael Colglazier has repeatedly assured investors that VG is focused on resuming spaceflights and carrying paying customers. The company has made a number of upgrades to its “mothership,” called VMS Eve, and the spacecraft, VSS Unity. VG’s approach involves strapping the spacecraft to the belly of the mothership and releasing it at around 50,000 feet; this is in contrast to a company like Blue Origin, which vertically launches a rocket that’s fitted with a crew capsule.

The crew includes Jamila Gilbert, who has been with Virgin Galactic since 2019; Christopher Huie, who joined Virgin in 2016 as a flight sciences engineer; Luke Mays, a NASA veteran who is now Virgin’s astronaut instructor; and Beth Moses, who has flown to space on two previous Virgin missions. Two pilots, Mike Masucci and CJ Sturckow, will also be on board.

The first commercial flight, currently set for June, will carry officers from the Italian Air Force. The company eventually hopes to fly 400 times per year with an upgraded line of motherships. At a ticket price of around $425,000 per seat, the company will need around that cadence to finally start returning profits. VG’s current plan is to start testing Delta-class ships by 2025 and enter commercial service the following year.