Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – On Saturday, the Virgin Galactic supersonic missile plane was due to launch into the upper atmosphere, but after flying more than 40,000 feet over New Mexico, the space plane took an unexpected turn To return to its base instead of flying towards the sky.
The company confirmed that the space plane carrying the test pilots, CJ Storko and Dave Mackay, landed safely.
“The ignition sequence of the rocket engine has not been completed,” the company said on Twitter. “The vehicle and crew are in good condition. We have several engines ready in Spaceport America. We will inspect the vehicle and return to flight soon.”
The root cause of the problem was not immediately clear.
This mission was supposed to be VSS Unity’s third test flight past the 50-mile mark, which the US government considers the beginning of outer space.
This was also supposed to be the first missile-powered test flight of “Virgin Galactic” in New Mexico, where a spaceport that cost about $ 200 million, the majority of it in taxpayers’ money, had been waiting for nearly a decade for the launch of the “Virgin Galactic”. .
The company’s development program has suffered for years from delays for a variety of reasons, including a fatal accident in 2014 that killed a test pilot, problems with technology, and most recently the Coronavirus pandemic.
Saturday’s attempt for a test flight was already delayed. The flight was scheduled to take place in November, but “Virgin Galactic” postponed the mission after an increase in coronavirus cases prompted the New Mexico state government to implement new restrictions.
