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Why Virgin Galactic can return to orbit

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Why Virgin Galactic can return to orbit

FAA authorizes Virgin Galactic to return to flight after investigation that forced Branson's space company to postpone next flight

The spacecraft of the Virgin Galactic space company can return to orbit.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cleared Virgin Galactic to fly back on Wednesday after completing an investigation related to the space flight carrying the company's owner, Sir Richard Branson.

The U.S. aviation regulator had grounded the space tourism company's operations earlier this month after the FAA learned that the company's spacecraft had deviated from its confined airspace during its July 11 mission. .

The FAA announced it had "closed" the investigation, after asking the company to make changes. "Virgin Galactic has made the necessary changes and can resume flight operations," the FAA said in a statement.

The good news has caused Virgin Galactic shares to rise more than 9%, according to MarketWatch.

The company's next space flight is scheduled for mid-October and is dedicated to scientific research. The mission involves the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council (Cnr).

All the details.

THE SURVEY ON THE SPACELET

At the beginning of September, the company spacecraft was stranded on the ground during the investigation.

"The investigation found that the SpaceShipTwo vehicle deviated from its assigned airspace during its descent from space," the FAA said in a statement, adding that "Virgin Galactic failed to communicate the deviation" as requested.

BRANSON'S FLIGHT

On July 11, British Richard Branson became the first billionaire to travel into space aboard a private company.

WHAT THE US FAA REPORTED

But while Virgin Galactic had assured at the time that everything had gone as planned, the spacecraft had actually flown briefly out of the mission's airspace, deviating from its path. "The company failed to communicate the communication to the FAA as requested," the US regulator explained.

THE CHANGES MADE BY THE AEROSPACE COMPANY

Virgin Galactic for its part has indicated in a separate statement to modify its procedures to ensure “real-time” communication with the FAA during future missions.

The space for future flights will also be expanded, to allow the spacecraft to have "a large protected airspace for a variety of possible flight paths".

"We appreciate the FAA's in-depth review," said Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier. “Our test flight program is precisely designed to continually improve our procedures,” he added.

NEXT UNITY FLIGHT 23

Given the FAA investigation, the company's next flight will take place in mid-October.

Virgin Galactic was targeting the end of September and the beginning of October for its next space flight test, called Unity 23 and carrying six people – two pilots and four passengers – on a mission for the Italian Air Force.

The crew members will be: Colonel Walter Villadei and Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolfi, both of the Italian Air Force, Pantaleone Carlucci, aerospace engineer and researcher at Cnr and Beth Moses, Chief Astronaut Instructor at Virgin Galactic.

The company has not yet released a launch date for Unity 23, taking off from Spaceport America. This will be the first commercial research mission conducted by a crew.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/perche-virgin-galactic-puo-tornare-in-orbita/ on Thu, 30 Sep 2021 09:22:35 +0000.