Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic – Serious Trouble: All Company Space Shields Frozen

“The FAA is overseeing Virgin Galactic’s investigation into the July 11 incident with [erdvėlaiviu] “SpaceShipTwo, which took place over the US spaceport in New Mexico,” the agency said in a brief statement.

“Virgin Galactic will not be able to fly SpaceShipTwo until the FAA approves the final investigation of the incident or determines that the safety concerns do not affect public safety,” the agency said.

Earlier, Virgin Galactic announced plans to make a new flight to the outer limit of space involving three Italian scientists.

The FAA reported that during the July 11 flight, the SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, which was flown by R. Branson and five Virgin Galactic employees, veered off course while landing in New Mexico. As a result of this deviation, the aircraft flew out of the safe area established by air traffic controllers.

Virgin Galactic acknowledged that the spacecraft was 1 min. 41 sec. it remained below the established safe airspace zone. The rocket plane, separated from the transport plane, flew for a total of about 15 minutes and reached an altitude of 86 km.

The company said the aircraft had drifted off course due to strong winds at high altitudes and emphasized that both pilots had “responded appropriately.” According to Virgin Galactic, there was a “safe and successful test flight that followed our flight procedures and training protocols.”

“The trajectory change has never posed any risk to passengers and crew,” the company said, adding that safety was a top priority.

Branson was able to surpass billionaire rival Jeff Bezos, founder of online commerce giant Amazon and space airline Blue Origin, ascending to space nine days before him. The Bezos rocket was launched on July 20 in West Texas, blowing up the creator of the project and three other people.

Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are competing for opportunities to sell space flights to tourists, scientists and anyone else who wants to experience a few minutes of weightlessness. Virgin Galactic rocket launchers are launched from a transport plane, and the Blue Origin capsule is lifted by a reusable New Shepard rocket.

Virgin Galactic aimed to host a new flight in late September or early October involving two members of the Italian Air Force, an engineer from Italy’s National Research Council, Virgin Galactic’s lead astronaut instructor, and two pilots. . The company hopes to begin transporting people who have purchased tickets starting next year.

At the time, Blue Origin had not yet announced the date for its new manned flight, but said it would happen “soon.”