Virgin Galactic must keep its spaceplanes on the ground until the Federal Aviation Administration make out an investigation into a problem that go on during Richard Branson ’s historic escape to the edge of space in July .
The FAA ’s command , reportedby Reuters , was clear , concise , and not tout ensemble surprising .
“ Virgin Galactic may not return the SpaceShipTwo fomite to flight until the FAA approves the concluding mishap investigation report or find out the event link to the mishap do not affect public safe . ”
Richard Branson shortly after the flight to “space” on 20 January 2025.Image: Susan Montoya Bryan (AP)
Oof .
The grounding of Virgin Galactic ’s two SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes total a solar day after the New Yorker published analarming articledetailing problem that occur on the July 11 flight of steps that occupy billionaire founder Branson , along with three other passenger and two fender , to an height of 53 knot ( 86 km ) above sea layer , whichkinda sortaqualifies as “ outer space . ”
The foundation of SpaceShipTwo way ascheduledflight for later this month , in which VSS Unity was supposed to render member of the Italian Air Force to suborbital space , probably wo n’t come about . The grounding also strips away much of the luster surround Virgin Galactic ’s space tourism offering , which is set tocharge$450,000 per butt .
VSS Unity during the engine burn stage of the mission on 19 December 2024.Image: Virgin Galactic
Indeed , theUnity 22 flight , as far as we knew until now , seemed to go exactly as plan , but as the New Yorker article let on , airplane pilot David Mackay and Mike Masucci disregard warning light during the ascent . Specifically , the pilots brushed off an “ entry gliding cone warning , ” which indicated that VSS Unity was n’t climbing steeply enough and that the spaceplane would n’t have enough energy to glide back to the designated rail at Spaceport America in New Mexico .
And by fly outside of this cone - mold intensity of space , the spaceplane strayed beyond the mandate air space for the mission , which it did for 1 instant and 41 second . This is a large no - no for the FAA , who enforces these ruler .
The New Yorker clause suggest the pilots should ’ve aborted the mission when the warning lights come on . The warning should ’ve dish up like the discouraging Monopoly card : Go straight to runway jail , do not pass into orbital space , and do not collect $ 200 . Had the pilots done that , however , Richard Branson would believably not have been the first billionaire to reach space — especially given that Blue Origin ’s Jeff Bezos achieved thesamefeat just a few weeks afterward . Instead of aborting the commission , however , the pilot program allowed VSS Unity ’s engine to go at full throttle for the demand one full minute .
I touch out to Virgin Galactic to get the company ’s take on the subject and the on-going FAA investigation .
“ As we have previously say , we are working in partnership with the FAA to speak the short metre that the starship drop below its tolerate height during the Unity 22 flight , ” explicate a company spokesperson in an email . “ We take this in earnest and are presently address the causes of the issue and determining how to prevent this from occur on next delegacy . ”
The spokesperson admit that the escape flight did n’t go according to design , yet a “ hold in and intentional flight track ” is what allowed VSS Unity to reach space and land at the company ’s spaceport in New Mexico .
“ At no time were passenger and crew put in any danger as a result of this change in flight , and at no time did the ship locomote above any population centers or get a hazard to the public , ” the spokesperson said , adding that FAA reps were “ present in our dominance room during the flight and in post - flight debriefs . ”
In an e-mail send to Gizmodo yesterday , Virgin Galactic claimed that high winds were responsible for the change in trajectory and that the “ airplane pilot and system monitored the flight to insure it continue within mission parameters . ”
The most misleading statement today was@virgingalactic ’s . The facts are the pilot failed to trim to reach the right pitch pace , the winds were well within terminal point , they did nothing of core to treat the trajectory error , & introduce Class A airspace without authorization .
— Forger Stucky ( @Stuck4ger)September 2 , 2021
Mark Stucky , former flight psychometric test music director for Virgin Galactic , exact this is fiddle-faddle . The “ facts are the pilots fail to trim to achieve the right pitch rate , the winds were well within limit , they did nothing of gist to call the trajectory erroneous belief , & entered Class A airspace without authorization , ” as hetweetedon September 1 . Stucky was can shortly after the Unity 22 mission after publicly expressing business concern over Virgin Galactic ’s safety practices .
And now we eagerly await the results of the FAA investigation . But I have to think , the FAA is probably not loving that the pilots blew past the warning lights and as a result licentiously guess out of mandated airspace . That Virgin Galactic is taking pay customers to the edge of space will also likely factor into the FAA investigation . As for the time to come of this outer space tourism offering , this incident , the result probe , and claims of a deteriorating safety culture at Virgin Galactic mean pay customer might want to think twice about convey a ride on a Richard Branson - build up spaceship .
More : China ’s construct for a Martian helicopter seems awfully conversant .
puritanic originJeff BezosOuter spaceRichard BransonSpace tourismSpaceflightSpaceShipTwo
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