Virgin Galactic makes first flight from New Mexico website

A Virgin Galactic test flight Saturday ended prematurely when the spacecraft landed safely at Spaceport The US in southern New Mexico after its rocket engine did no longer ignite excessive above the Earth.

“The ignition sequence for the rocket motor did no longer entire. Automobile and crew are in sizable form,” Virgin Galactic talked about in a immediate assertion on Twitter. “We accept as true with several motors willing at Spaceport The US. We are able to study the auto and be reduction to flight soon.”

The flight was as soon as the first from Virgin Galactic’s fresh headquarters at Spaceport The US, a futuristic wilderness outpost.

Sooner than first pronouncing the spacecraft’s accept return to land and then the project with the rocket, Virgin Galactic’s in-flight communications were cryptic and sparse throughout a 15-minute length that began with an announcement that the spacecraft was as soon as “dawdle for release” from the plane that carried it to the release altitude.

A old Virgin Galactic press release talked about release would occur at about 50,000 toes.

After delays as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and some dicey weather earlier this week, the crew had been cleared for a morning launch amid optimistic conditions.

The spaceship was as soon as crewed by two pilots. There was as soon as payload belonging to NASA onboard but no passengers.

The subsequent half of closing testing for the Virgin Galactic crew will procure company mission specialists and engineers being loaded into the spaceship’s passenger cabin for powered flights. They’ll attach in thoughts your entire hardware, digicam settings and which angles will provide the solely views.

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