Richard Branson’s company said a recent test revealed “a possible reduction in the strength of the materials used to modify certain joints, which will require further physical inspection.”
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Work on the VSS Unity spacecraft and the VMS Eve aircraft carrying it will begin this month. It will take eight to ten months, so half of next year is the closest date for a Unity 23 test flight. The dates of commercial flights with space tourists Unity 24 and Unity 25 have not yet been set.
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Michael Colglazier, the company’s CEO, emphasized that inspections and adjustments show that Virgin Galactic is safe in the first place. The modifications are intended to “improve reliability and durability as well as reduce maintenance requirements”.
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Billionaire Richard Branson
Foto: Joe Skipper, Reuters
According to Virgin Galactic, the improvement was supposed to start as early as September, but this was not possible because for most of the month the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was investigating problems on the first suborbital flight on July 11. During the flight, warning lights came on that the spacecraft had deviated from its course. Virgin Galactic admitted that a deviation in the trajectory did occur, but did not get outside the reserved area. The flight altitude was one minute and 41 seconds lower than planned. The reason was supposed to be a strong air current in the stratosphere.
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According to internal regulations, the company had two options at that time – to correct the flight trajectory, or to shut down the rocket engine. The second would be the safest, but it would mean that the ship with Richard Branson on board would not reach the limits of outer space. The flight therefore continued. The FAA later again enabled VSS Unity flights.
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Following the announcement of the flight delay, the company’s shares lost 13 percent of their value from $ 24 to $ 20.54. Then they strengthened slightly. However, shares have been falling since mid-July, before and just after the first flight, at $ 50.
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