SpaceShipTwo Crashes During Test Flight

We have been following Virgin Galactic’s progress with space tourism over the last several years. The SpaceShip Two project is a novel design in which a spacecraft that is launched from the underside of a plane. While the company was meeting all their milestones with SpaceShip Two, they had an unfortunate accident yesterday that resulted in a loss of life when the spacecraft crashed in the Mojave Desert. There were two pilots aboard the aircraft. Fortunately, one was able to eject in time and survived with injuries. The second pilot was unable to eject and perished in the crash. The test flight was intended to prove the viability of a new solid rocket fuel. Needless to say, this incident will set the space tourism industry back a few years. Furthermore, this is the second commercial space disaster in a week. Last week, Orbital’s Antares rocket detonated shortly after lift off.