Washington: A spacecraft for Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic Ltd. tourism
operator crashed during a test flight in California’s Mojave Desert, and CNBC reported that one of two pilots was killed.
The second pilot was injured, according to CNBC, which cited local police. Television images today showed pieces of wreckage from Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo on the desert floor.
Wreckage from the @virgingalactic #SpaceShipTwo crash site. Story: http://t.co/wGjYVc635A pic.twitter.com/KnyfXXOkms— KDVR FOX31 Denver (@KDVR) October 31, 2014
The spacecraft reportedly had trouble with engine burn before it blew up and came down in pieces near Koehn Lake, in California.
UPDATE:Virgin Galactic's partner Scaled Composites conducted a powered test flight of #SpaceShipTwo earlier today. (1 of 4)— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014
Mojave Air & Space Port, where Virgin Galactic flies its suborbital craft, was set to issue a statement.
“We will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of this
accident and provide updates ASAP,” Virgin Galactic said Friday in a message posted on its Twitter feed.
In a Tweet, Sir Richard he's flying to Mojave and thanked those who expressed messages of support.
Thoughts with all @virgingalactic & Scaled, thanks for all your messages of support. I'm flying to Mojave immediately to be with the team.
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) October 31, 2014
The accident is the second this week involving a commercial space venture, following the failed launch of an Orbital Sciences Corp. rocket on Oct. 28 on a supply mission to the International Space Station. Orbital’s rocket didn’t carry any astronauts.
Branson said last month that Virgin Galactic was targeting its first commercial flight in spring 2015, with the billionaire and his son to be aboard for the initial launch. That reflected a change from his initial timetable for operations this year.
