Dave Mackay Joins Opening Astronaut Panel

The Space Education Summit team is thrilled to announce that Virgin Galactic Chief Pilot Dave Mackay will join us for the opening Astronaut Panel on May 30, 2025. Dave flew a number of test flights for Virgin Galactic, including the VF-01, Unity 21, and Unity 22 missions.

David Mackay is a former RAF test pilot, former Cheif Pilot of Virgin Galactic, and a commercial astronaut. He is the first native-born Scot to visit space. David studied Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Glasgow. In 1986 he was selected for test pilot training, and in 1988 he graduated from the French test pilots' school. He joined Virgin Atlantic in 1995, flying Boeing 747s and the Airbus A340, before moving to Virgin Galactic in 2009, where he then piloted test flights of VSS Enterprise and VSS Unity. On 22 February 2019 Mackay became the 569th person to visit space. He piloted the VF-01 flight above 50 mi (80 km), qualifying him as an FAA certified commercial astronaut. He later piloted Unity 21 and Unity 22, with Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson on board.

We look forward to hearing Dave’s thoughts on how we might best prepare students for humanity’s future in space! A FREE ONLINE event, the summit brings together educators, enthusiasts, and professionals from many fields… to explore ways humanity might prepare for the growing space economy and a rapidly approaching multi-planet future. Our planning team is inspired by the Overview Effect, and a desire to help more people benefit from it here on Earth. See past sessions and highlights on our YouTube Channel.

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The event is produced in partnership with ARES Learning, EarthScape VR, The Human Space Program, and Ignited Thinkers.