Story at a glance
- Virgin Galactic’s rocket can’t go back to space until the FAA gives clearance.
- A major safety issue arose during the July flight, specifically involving potential trajectory issues.
- Virgin Galactic and founder Richard Bransons are key players in the burgeoning space tourism industry.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded Virgin Galactic airships from traveling on Thursday amid regulatory probes.
Virgin Galactic is the venture of billionaire Richard Branson, and made headlines when it completed a successful spaceflight back in July. The FAA has since grounded Richard Branson’s rocket amid a series of high-profile space excursions funded by wealthy investors including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
These flights are part of the burgeoning space tourism industry which aims to take private retail customers into space.
With the new FAA restrictions, Branson will not return his ship into space. The investigation revolves around a “mishap,” and the agency needs to ensure it will not impact public safety, the agency said in a statement to CNBC.
“The FAA is responsible for protecting the public during commercial space transportation launch and reentry operations,” the statement continued. “The FAA is overseeing the Virgin Galactic investigation of its July 11 SpaceShipTwo mishap that occurred over Spaceport America, New Mexico. SpaceShipTwo deviated from its Air Traffic Control clearance as it returned to Spaceport America.”
The issue in question was when a red warning light went off on the ship’s console, The New Yorker reported. This is a serious warning, stemming from trajectory issues that could result in landing mistakes.
Virgin Galactic reportedly said the “characterizations and conclusions” in the New Yorker article were “misleading,” according to CNBC.
“At no time were passengers and crew put in any danger as a result of this change in trajectory,” Virgin Galactic told reporters.
While more private tours into space have yet to be scheduled for Virgin Galactic, the company announced on Thursday it would pilot a test flight dubbed “Unity 23.”
A research mission, the flight will study the effect of microgravity environments and test physiological and technological responses while in suborbit.
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