The plane of Virgin Galactic, the space company of billionaire Richard Branson, is not allowed to go into the air for the time being. On its final flight, on July 11, the aircraft deviated from its scheduled course as it headed back from a short, sub-orbital space flight.
The U.S. aviation authority, the FAA, is investigating that flight. Only when the authority is certain that the safety of passengers and others is guaranteed, can the aircraft fly again.
Virgin Galactic says it is working closely with the FAA and is “trying to determine the cause of the incident”. The spaceplane, SpaceShipTwo, flew to an altitude of about 86 kilometers in July, just above the 50-mile mark that the US Aviation Authority considers the beginning of space. At that altitude, the atmosphere slowly fades into the vacuum of the universe. After a short while, the spaceplane slowly falls back.
‘Blown off course’
During the descent, the aircraft flew slightly lower than had been agreed for almost 2 minutes. Virgin Galactic acknowledges that, but says there was no question of a dangerous situation. According to the company, the aircraft was blown slightly off course by high winds.
The aircraft was piloted by two pilots. Branson himself and three of his closest associates were the passengers. Virgin Galactic wants to sell tourist flights to space. He is in a fierce competition with two other multi-billionaires. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who went to space a week after Branson, and Elon Musk (SpaceX) have also plunged into space tourism.
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