Virgin Galactic’s future fleet of commercial space planes will now have a home where they will be brought to life starting next year.

Virgin Galactic’s new “Delta” class space planes are set to take flight no earlier than 2026. The final flight of their previous space plane, VSS Unity, took place on June 8 and saw a Turkish astronaut and three space tourists reach suborbital space and experience a few minutes of weightlessness. Virgin Galactic has already named an international group of crew members for one of the first Delta class flights, which will include past Virgin Galactic American private astronaut Kellie Gerardi, who flew aboard Galactic 05 in November 2023, along with Canadian Shawna Pandya and Ireland’s Norah Patten to space no earlier than 2026.

To help build its fleet of Delta class vehicles, The aerospace company announced in a statement that its new multi-use facility has been completed in Mesa, Arizona, and preparations are now underway to make it the main location for building and assembling its next generation Delta space planes. 

Virgin Galactic expects to install final manufacturing hardware at the end of the year. After that, upon the arrival of major subassemblies such as the feathering system, fuselage, and wings, Virgin Galactic’s team anticipates the building to begin on its initial pair of Delta ships in 2025. 

Once production and ground testing are complete, the finished spaceships will head to Spaceport America in New Mexico to undergo a flight test before commercial operations are anticipated to start in 2026.

“The completion of our new manufacturing facility is an important milestone in the development of our fleet of next-generation spaceships, the key to our scale and profitability,” Michael Colglazier, Virgin Galactic CEO, said in the statement. “Tooling will begin arriving in a matter of months to support spaceship final assembly, which we expect to commence in Q1 2025.”

There are two hangars that include several bays at the multiuse facility, which will allow for utmost flexibility when it comes to the manufacturing and testing of space vehicles. Virgin Galactic uses a digital twin technology, which will allow a “seamless” connection with real-time collaboration between workers at the facility and the company’s suppliers.

Each of the Delta spaceships have room for up to six passengers and can carry out missions up to eight times per month. 

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – A new study at the University of Arizona is proving that veterans with service dogs have fewer PTSD symptoms and a higher quality of life.

While this has always been believed, there has been a lack of research on using service dogs in medical care.

According to the National Library of Medicine, more than 20% of veterans experience PTSD in their lifetime, and suicide and thoughts of suicide are also closely linked to PTSD.

A report from Veterans Affairs shows more than 17 U-S military veterans die by suicide daily. Now, University of Arizona researchers believe their findings could lead to life-changing improvements in healthcare for veterans.

This study involved 156 service members, half of whom were paired with a dog. Researchers then checked in every single day and said it was incredible to see the impact these dogs had on people.

Veterans came back and said their quality of life was better and that they had lower levels of depression and anxiety.

This idea has been in the works for about ten years and was recently published in the medical journal JAMA.

Rescue dogs and shelter dogs were used for this, and researchers say that no breed in particular did better or worse than others. However, it was also added that when dogs are bred to be service dogs, labs and retrievers are usually the most successful breeds.

”We often find that they are so excited to reach out the day they get the dog and just share pictures and stories with us about how the dog is already making an impact in their life,” the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Arizona Maggie O’Haire said. “For the team and myself, I think the most meaningful part of this work is really getting to hear their stories, to work with them, to talk to them every day of the week and learn how their life is and share that story in a way that could help make a difference for them.”

Research on this hasn’t been done yet. Next, they want to do a similar study with more veterans and follow them for about a year to see how much more those dogs can help them.

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Arizona ended up having its entire weekend starting rotation and its closer taken in the 2024 MLB Draft, while on the recruiting front only one member of its 2024 class was selected and there’s a good chance he’ll make it to campus.

A lot can happen in the next year, but 2025 figures to be an even bigger year for the Wildcats in the draft.

Baseball America has released its top 100 high school and college prospects list for the 2025 MLB Draft, and the UA has a trio on each.

Outfielder Brendan Summerhill is ranked as the No. 8 draft-eligible college player for 2025, with shortstop Mason White at No. 18 and catcher Adonys Guzman at No. 98.

Summerhill, who had a breakout sophomore year in which he led the UA with a .324 average while hitting eight home runs and 59 RBI, has kept that going in the Cape Cod League. He’s batting .323, has struck out only nine times in 19 games and has 10 stolen bases on 13 attempts.

White led the Wildcats in homers (19) and RBI (65) as a sophomore, while Guzman was stellar behind the plate in his first season after transferring from Boston College and is listed by BA as having “the best arm of any catcher in the class.”

On the prep side, there are three players the Wildcats have commitments from who are expected to be drafted a year from now:

• RHP Jack Lafflam (No. 38)
• OF Caleb Danzeisen (No. 77)
• RHP Dylan Wood (No. 83)

Lafflam, who plays for Brophy Prep in Phoenix, is 6-foot-6 and has been compared to lanky Cleveland Guardians righty Triston McKenzie. He’s ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 84 player in the 2025 recruiting class.

Danzeisen, who plays for Chandler Valley Christian, hit .524 with seven homers and 52 RBI as a junior. He is a left-handed hitter who could be a starting corner outfielder for Arizona in 2026 if he makes it to campus.

And Wood, from Elk Grove, Calif., is a 6-foot-2 arm with an array of pitches who would likely thrive under the guidance of UA pitching coach Kevin Vance.

Arizona had two signees ranked among the Top 250 overall draft prospects for 2024 but only one got picked. Lefty Mason Russell, considered a top-100 player, went 599^th overall in the 20^th round to the Cincinnati Reds and has until Aug. 1 to sign a pro deal or he’ll be coming to Tucson, while righty Smith Bailey went undrafted and will be a Wildcat next spring.