Virgin Galactic set to resume test flights within six months

Pioneering space tourism company Virgin Galactic has announced it will recommence test flights over the Mojave Desert in six months, pending the completion of a replacement spaceship.

The determination to continue test flights comes less than a week after the mid-flight breakup of SpaceShipTwo, which resulted in the death of test pilot, Michael Alsbury.

Another test pilot, Peter Siebold, suffered a shoulder injury as he ejected from the quickly disintegrating spaceship at a height of 50,000 feet above California’s Mojave Desert.

Investigators later found the body of Alsbury within the wreckage of SpaceShipTwo.

Preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board found the spacecraft’s descent mechanism, also known as the feathered re-entry system, was deployed during the initial rocket-powered ascent.

The deployment of the feathering system at this stage of flight caused the spaceship to become unstable.

The new vessel, known as VSS Voyager, is nearing completion.

While the new vessel is nearly identical to the ill-fated spaceship, it’s possible that improvements may be included in the wake of the NTSB investigation.

Hundreds of customers are signed on for the first commercial Virgin Galactic flights, however it’s currently unknown how the recent SpaceShipTwo disaster will impact the future of commercial space tourism.