Q&A with Dave Mackay and CJ Sturckow

After an illustrious and pioneering career with Virgin Galactic, Dave Mackay is stepping down as Chief Pilot and retiring from the company after 19 years. It is hard to imagine where Virgin Galactic would be today without Dave's great skill and leadership. As we extend our deepest gratitude to Dave, we are pleased to announce that CJ Sturckow will move into the Chief Pilot role. CJ, a former Marine Corps test and combat pilot, joined Virgin Galactic in 2023 from NASA and has been at the controls of either Eve or Unity for many of our flights. We caught up with Dave and CJ to discuss the unprecedented success of our commercial spaceflights and the excitement ahead with Delta.

Dave, as you look back over your career and Virgin Galactic’s 12 successful spaceflights, what do you think are the key reasons behind our operational success?

Dave: The outstanding success of our commercial operations had its foundation in the careful planning, preparation and execution of the test program – all the groundwork that was done over the years to ensure that we had considered all the possible variables, that we were fully ready before entering into flight testing, and that we learnt all the lessons along the way. This could only be achieved by way of a huge team effort across the whole company. In addition, thanks to the leadership of the Astronaut Instruction team, a program was established that enabled our customers to get the most enjoyment and satisfaction out of every moment of their flight experience. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about!

What does it mean to you, CJ, that we’re standing on the threshold of scaling the business and introducing exponentially more people to the spaceflight experience?

CJ: The hard work that our dedicated Virgin Galactic personnel have been doing for years to make Eve and Unity operational has paved the way as we bring the Delta-class ships online. We have a proven spaceflight system. It works exceptionally well. Now our engineers and maintainers have made the necessary improvements so we can rapidly turn these vehicles around between missions and increase the frequency of flying humans to space. This is tremendously exciting.

Dave, what is most exciting to you about the Delta-class ships?

Dave: Being able to turn the vehicles much more quickly than ever before and, hence, increasing our flight rate dramatically. Flying more frequently means flying many more people and payloads to space, which is exactly what Virgin Galactic set out to do.

How will our Delta ships build on the successes and learnings of Unity?

CJ: These early commercial flights in Unity have taught us so much about what is important to our customers regarding the entire spaceflight experience. Many have described it as life changing to look down on our beautiful planet from space. The Delta ships will build on that experience, plus increase the frequency of flights so that we can expose even more people to human spaceflight.

You both have extensive experience as pilots, test pilots and astronauts at the controls of multiple spaceflights. What is it that inspires you and others at Virgin Galactic to keep doing this work and advancing the company’s mission?

Dave: It’s the passion and the purpose behind Virgin Galactic that pushes this team forward. That and the sheer excitement of flying people to space. Spaceship Unity is the most exciting vehicle I have flown in terms of its performance. It also does things – goes to places – that are spectacularly beautiful and truly awe-inspiring. And it takes people on an amazing journey, people who would normally never have the opportunity to fly on such a high-performance machine, let alone go to space. The satisfaction of seeing our customers’ reactions after their flight is something that will never get old.

Teamwork is a top priority across this company. How and why is that important to you as a pilot, and how does that translate into an exceptional experience for our astronauts?

CJ: The pilots are completely integrated across the engineering teams at Virgin Galactic. They have very diverse backgrounds and experience flying and testing hundreds of different types of aircraft. They also have cumulatively built up a significant pool of operational experience from flying Unity to space. Our spaceflight system vehicles are the only current spacecraft designed to be solely hand-flown from launch to landing. As Dave has said many times, automation can be useful but having human pilots can make a huge difference. I believe our customers are not only comforted by having pilots onboard but also enjoy interacting with us throughout their training and actual spaceflight. We do everything possible to make them feel part of the crew. It’s a lot of fun for us as well.

Now that you’ve heard so many emotional reactions from our astronauts about the spaceflight experience, has your perspective changed at all about the importance of commercial human spaceflight and how it can transform lives?

Dave: My own perspective has been re-enforced by the comments I have heard and the reactions I have seen. The way people have been affected by the spaceflight experience is everything I expected and so much more. In addition, the way the experience unites our customers – customers from all parts of the world, no matter their race, nationality, politics, it is a very unifying and rewarding experience. Spaceship Unity truly lives up to its name.

What does it mean to be a commercial spaceline pilot and to play such an important role in taking more people to space?

CJ: Once you have flown to space yourself a time or two, one of the most fun things you can do is share that experience with someone who has never had the opportunity before. To witness their awe and joy is very inspiring.