Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has announced that its commercial space tourism service has begun operations postponed again.

Previously scheduled for later this year, it now looks like we'll have to wait until the second quarter of 2023 to see more VSS Unity takeoffs.

According to Notícias ao Minuto, the company explained the decision with the delays of the processes to improve the aircraft to make it more durable and reliable. Recall, however, that Virgin Galactic had already admitted that this postponement was a possibility, a reason that led the company to postpone the first flight payments from the third to the fourth quarter of 2023.

Virgin Galactic made its first orbital flight - with founder Richard Branson among the crew - in July 2021, just days before rival Blue Origin (owned by Jeff Bezos) debuted.