Pilot Killed as Virgin Galactic Spaceship Crashes in Desert During Test Flight

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1629716/pilot-killed-virgin-galactic-spaceship-crashes-desert-during-test-flight

Virgin chief Richard Branson vowed to push on towards the dream of space flight for the paying public after the fatal crash of one of his company's spacecrafts during a test flight in California.

A pilot died and another was seriously wounded when the pioneering craft for carrying tourists broke up over the Mojave desert on Friday, raising questions about the programme's future.

While Branson voiced shock at the accident involving Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, he said he still planned to give large numbers of paying civilians a suborbital ride that would let them experience weightlessness.

"We've always known the road to space is extremely difficult - and that every new transportation system has to deal with bad days early in their history," Branson said.

"Space is hard - but worth it. We will persevere and move forward together," he added.

After travelling to the desert, Branson saluted the pilots' bravery and said he was determined to find out the cause of the crash.

He did not discuss any details of it and deferred to the investigation by experts from the US National Transportation Safety Board just getting under way.

Television images showed the wreckage of SpaceShipTwo, a test vehicle that flies to the edge of space, scattered over the desert.

The flight - the 35th by SpaceShipTwo, according to Virgin Galactic's Twitter feed - involved the same configuration as previously, although the type of fuel was new, officials said.

More than 500 people have already reserved seats - and paid a deposit on the US$250,000 ticket price - for a minutes-long suborbital flight on SpaceShipTwo, which can carry six passengers.

Two Hongkongers - a woman and a man in their late 30s - have signed up to another space tourism firm, Amsterdam-based SpaceExpedition Corp (SXC).

SpaceShipTwo's first commercial flight - in which Branson and his family have vowed to travel - has often been delayed. But it was tentatively forecast for the first half of 2015.