As New Mexico anxiously awaits Virgin Galactic launches at Spaceport America, Virgin founder Richard Branson is speaking out about the future of commercial spaceflight.
Branson wrote about October's fatal crash of Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo in a New Year’s blog post.
One pilot died and another was injured in the crash. In the post, Branson said, "I found myself questioning seriously for the first time, whether in fact it was right to be backing the development of something that could result in such tragic circumstances. In short — was Virgin Galactic and everything it has stood for and dreamt of achieving, really worth it?”
In the blog and during an interview with NBC News, Branson answered that question…saying Virgin Galactic was a project worth continuing.
The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing its investigation into the October crash of SpaceShipTwo. The NTSB has said an onboard video showed the co-pilot prematurely pulled a lever releasing a brake system, before the crash.
Virgin Galactic is building a second SpaceShipTwo craft in Mojave, California. At this point, the company has not released a set timeline on when it might launch from Spaceport America.