Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crashed in Mojave Desert after experiencing an in-flight “anomaly” earlier today.
On Oct. 31, during the first test of a new hybrid rocket motor at Mojave, California, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) crashed causing, based on current news reports, 1 dead and 1 seriously injured pilot.
During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of SpaceShipTwo. WK2 landed safely. (2 of 4)
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014
Today’s flight, the first since January, was aimed at testing a new fuel mixture for the SS2’s hybrid rocket engine. The suborbital, air-launched spaceplane designed for space tourism at 250K USD a seat, spent more than three hours on the Mojave runway before the go ahead for launch for given at 09.19 AM Local Time.
About 45 minutes later, the aircraft was released by WhiteKnightTwo mothership, at an altitude of 50,000 feet. Witnesses reported the aircraft suffered a failure after separation from the mothership. It then blew up and separated in several parts.
