Virgin Galactic stops space travel effort in New Mexico

The Virgin Galactics’ latest spaceflight did not fully burn out as the engine of its spaceship vehicle “Unity” attempted to fly over New Mexico on Saturday.

In the absence of any passengers, C.J. Directed by Starkov and Dave McKay. The Virgin Galactic aims to reach the edge of space for the third time, from its operating base in New Mexico on its maiden spaceflight. The spacecraft returned to the runway in the Spaceport United States, about 50 miles north of Los Cruces.

“The ignition line for the rocket motor is incomplete. The vehicle and crew are in excellent condition. We have several motors ready at Spaceport USA. We will check the vehicle and return to the aircraft soon,” the company said in a tweet.

The Virgin Galactic has confirmed the successful return of the spacecraft to land again at Spaceport USA in New Mexico, where its carrier took off from under the jet an hour earlier. Both pilots were described by the company as “safe and sound.”

“Wheel stop, spaceship to unity,” Virgin Galatic said in a tweet.

An unofficial webcast provided by space news site NASASpaceflight showed the spacecraft’s engine coming to a halt shortly after the shooting. Spaceship Two was released at an altitude of about 40,000 feet from the bottom of its carrier aircraft, and was briefly ignited before Unity’s motor could be shut down. Normally the spacecraft is emitted by a jet, which then shoots its rocket motor for more than a minute, striking at three times the speed of sound.

Virgin Galactic space travel is the company’s first attempt in almost 22 months Its previous space flight was in February 2019 When the unit reached an altitude of nearly 90 kilometers in a test launch from the Mojave Desert in California. The company is in the process of launching commercial service aircraft from Spaceport USA, where it has moved its operations from its development and production facilities at Air & Spaceport in Mojave.

Saturday’s flight is the first of three remaining spaceflight tests the company plans to conduct to complete the development of its spacecraft system, with the third founder Sir Richard Branson. The impact of the test, which was dropped on the Virgin Galactic schedule, has not yet been determined, with the Branson flight previously scheduled for the first quarter of 2021.

In addition to the two pilots, Unity’s aircraft underwent micro-gravity testing for NASA on Saturday, under contracts awarded through the agency’s flight opportunities program.

Virgin Galactic has about 600 customer bookings in its books, most of which sold for $ 200,000 to $ 250,000 in tickets several years ago. The company plans to fully open ticket sales in 2021 after Franson’s flight, although it does not say how many tickets will cost once the sale reopens. Company executives have previously said that Virgin Galactic expects high demand for tickets Will significantly increase its price for the first commercial aircraft.

Subscribe to CNBC Pro For exclusive intelligence and analysis and live business day programming from around the world.