Virgin Galactic Unity 21

{{Short description|2021 American crewed sub-orbital spaceflight}}

{{refimprove|date=May 2021}}

{{italic title|string=Unity}}

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = Virgin Galactic Unity 21

| image = Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo "Unity" rollout 19Feb2016, FAITH hangar, Mojave, California.jpg

| image_caption = VSS Unity in February 2016

| mission_type = Crewed suborbital spaceflight

| operator = Virgin Galactic

| mission_duration =

| suborbital_apogee = {{Convert|89.23|km|abbr=off}}

| spacecraft = VSS Unity

| spacecraft_type = SpaceShipTwo

| manufacturer = The Spaceship Company

| crew_members = {{Unbulleted list|David Mackay|Frederick Sturckow}}

| launch_date = 22 May 2021, 15:26 UTC

| launch_site = Spaceport America Runway 34

| deployment_from = VMS Eve

| landing_date = 22 May 2021

| landing_site = Spaceport America Runway 16

| programme = VSS Unity spaceflights

| previous_mission = VF-01

| next_mission = Unity 22

}}

Virgin Galactic Unity 21{{Cite web|date=22 May 2021|title=Virgin Galactic on Twitter|url=https://twitter.com/virgingalactic/status/1396166206604914689|quote=Unity21 made a beautiful ascent to apogee over Spaceport America, New Mexico.}} was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity which took place on 22 May 2021, piloted by David Mackay and co-piloted by Frederick Sturckow. It was the first human spaceflight from the state of New Mexico.{{Cite web|date=22 May 2021|title=Virgin Galactic Completes First Human Spaceflight from Spaceports America, New Mexico.|url=https://www.virgingalactic.com/articles/virgin-galactic-completes-first-human-spaceflight-from-spaceport-america-new-mexico/|url-status=dead|access-date=22 May 2021|archive-date=22 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522170447/https://www.virgingalactic.com/articles/virgin-galactic-completes-first-human-spaceflight-from-spaceport-america-new-mexico/}} It was operated by Virgin Galactic, a private company led by Richard Branson which intends to conduct space tourism flights in the future. Unity 21 was the first human spaceflight to be launched from Spaceport America.{{Cite web|date=22 May 2021|title=Virgin Galactic launches third successful spaceflight|website=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/22/tech/virgin-galactic-spaceflight/index.html|access-date=22 May 2021}}{{Cite web|date=22 May 2021|title=Virgin Galactic on twitter|url=https://twitter.com/virgingalactic/status/1396276052452773893|access-date=22 May 2021|quote=Space is too good not to share. Our proof is in the incredible views of Earth aboard #Unity21.}}

Reaching an apogee of {{convert|55.45|mi|km|2|abbr=on}}, the flight satisfied the United States definition of spaceflight ({{convert|50|mi|km|2|abbr=on}}), but fell short of the Kármán line ({{convert|100|km|mi|2|abbr=on}}), the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale definition.