[Yo-Yo]

Video cued up to the release and aborted engine firing here:

https://youtu.be/6UqTvJl3N3M?t=4968

[Larry Lucido]

I always hoped the Pan Am Space Clipper would lead the way on this. Good on Mr. Branson for picking up the torch. Glad the crew landed safely.

[shanover]

It takes a set to fly in these prototypes. Space X just recently sent up a ship (unmanned) successfully but blew up when it landed.

[daniel1212]

CEO, Michael Colglazier, a former Disney executive, said that VSS Unity’s “onboard computer that monitors the rocket motor lost connection.” That triggered a “fail-safe scenario that intentionally halted ignition of the rocket motor,” Colglazier said.

This was also supposed to be the first rocket-powered test flight Virgin Galactic carried out in New Mexico, where a glitzy spaceport paid for by more than $200 million in mostly taxpayer money, has been waiting for nearly a decade for Virgin Galactic to move in and open for business. The company’s development program has endured years of delays for a variety of reasons, including a fatal 2014 crash that killed a test pilot, technology hangups, and, more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic.

- https://keyt.com/news/money-and-business/2020/12/13/virgin-galactic-unexpectedly-aborts-test-flight-of-space-plane/