Fatal crash of Virgin Galactic spacecraft in US

FE Team | Published: November 02, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Al Jazeera): One pilot dead and one injured as rocket built for space tourists experiences "anomaly" in test flight over California.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket, designed for suborbital commercial flights, has crashed in southern California.
The British company said on its Twitter account that the spacecraft experienced an "in-flight anomaly" during a test flight over the Mojave Desert on Friday.
One of the pilots was killed and the other one was injured, the California Highway Patrol said.
The test flights were being conducted in preparation for journeys for tourists to outer space.
The SpaceShipTwo rocket is typically flown by a crew of two pilots [File: EPA]
The SpaceShipTwo rocket is typically flown by a crew of two pilots and has been under development at Mojave Air and Space Port in the desert northeast of Los Angeles.
Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the crash, said the spacecraft exploded after it was released from a plane that carries it to a high altitude.
The company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson would not say what happened other than it was working with authorities to determine the cause of the "accident".
Virgin Galactic has been the frontrunner in the fledgling space-tourism industry.
SpaceShipTwo was designed to be carried aloft by a specially designed jet and then released before igniting its rocket for a suborbital ride into space and then a return to Earth as a glider. More than 700 customers have already paid up to $250,000 for a trip on the spacecraft.
Meanwhile: Sir Richard Branson has vowed to continue his space tourism venture despite the fatal crash of a Virgin Galactic rocket ship in the US.
One pilot died and the other was badly injured when SpaceShipTwo exploded in California's Mojave Desert on Friday.
Investigators are on their way to the crash site, north of Los Angeles.
Mr Branson, founder of the Virgin Group and a long-time advocate of commercial space travel, said he was "shocked and saddened" but would "persevere".