The suborbital passenger spaceship that was being developed by Virgin Galactic crashed during a test flight over the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
Californian authorities have revealed that a pilot of SpaceShipTwo has been killed while the other has suffered a serious injury after the Virgin Galactic ship crashed during its first powered test flight since January.
The spaceship is intended to reach an altitude of 45,000 before fires its rocket motor to catapult it to about 62 miles (100 km) above Earth, giving passengers a view of the planet.
The ship is based on a prototype, called SpaceShipOne, which was commissioned to be the first privately developed manned spacecraft to fly in space.
A company statement said, “During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of SpaceShipTwo, we will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident and provide updates ASAP.”
More details to come.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
