Virgin Galactic Announces Details of Recent Failed Space Test

Virgin Galactic announced a test flight on Saturday was cut short after an issue with the rocket’s motor.

The aerospace and space travel company revealed the December 12 test flight was forced to make an emergency landing after the rocket’s motor did not fire due to the ignition sequence not completing.

As a result, the pilots conducted a safe landing at Spaceport America, New Mexico.

“Our flight landed beautifully, with pilots, planes, and spaceship safe, secure, and in excellent shape — the foundation of every successful mission,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said. “The flight did not reach space as we had been planning.”

“After being released from its mothership, the spaceship’s onboard computer that monitors the rocket motor lost connection,” Colglazier continued. “As designed, this triggered a fail-safe scenario that intentionally halted ignition of the rocket motor. Following this occurrence, our pilots flew back to Spaceport America and landed gracefully as usual.”

The failure is now being investigated, but officials said they believe an onboard computer that monitors the propulsion system lost connection, triggering a fail-safe scenario that intentionally halted the rocket motor’s ignition.

The safety systems of the Virgin Galactic craft were designed to default to a safe state whenever power or communication with sensors is lost, with pilots and flight control members specifically trained for these incidents.