Many people will remember the October 31, 2014 incident during which an earlier version of the SpaceShip Two suffered a catastrophic in-flight breakup and crashed in the Mojave Desert, California, during a test flight. Michael Alsbury, the co-pilot, was killed and the pilot, Peter Siebold, was seriously injured.
It was later determined by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that the co-pilot deployed the re-entry feathering system, the ship’s air-braking descent device, too early. The spacecraft’s builders were also blamed because they had failed to anticipate such a catastrophic mistake, reported Space.com July 2015.
The company says the process of getting the license involved thorough reviews of the system’s design, safety analysis and flight trajectory analysis. “The granting of our operator’s license is an important milestone for Virgin Galactic,” said the company’s vice president of operations Mike Moses, reports News.com.au.
The fatal incident resulted in several passengers backing out of becoming the first space tourists, and there were real worries over the future of space tourism in general. However, Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic’s founder, refused to let the terrible accident put a stop to his vision of pioneering space tourism.
In February 2016, Virgin Galactic unveiled its updated version of SpaceShip Two, named VSS Unity. According to the company, design alterations have been made to avoid a repeat of the 2014 incident. “While we still have much work ahead to fully test this spaceship in flight, I am confident that our world-class team is up to the challenge, said Moses.
The VSS Unity went through taxi testing on Monday, just one of many tests to complete before an actual maiden test flight. Virgin Galactic has declined to set a date for the flight, but earlier this year, according to Tech Times, the company said they looked forward to sending satellites, and maybe people into space by next year.
If you would like to take a trip to the edge of space, make sure you have the US$250,000 hanging around for the ticket. Virgin Galactic says they already have a waiting list of about 700 people signed up, including Tom Hanks, Katy Perry, and Stephen Hawking, who have all expressed interest in becoming space tourists.
