The company confirmed that the space plane, which was carrying test pilots CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay, safely landed.."Vehicle and crew are in great shape. We have several motors ready at Spaceport America. We will check the vehicle and be back to flight soon."
He added that Virgin Galactic will review the data collected during the flight and will set a re-do target date for the test flight in the"near future." If everything had gone as planned, VSS Unity would have ignited its rocket motor for a minute or longer as the vehicle swooped upward, climbing into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. But, in footage captured by space-focused publication NASASpaceflight, the engine appeared to flicker on for only a brief moment before powering off. Flight tracking software showed the vehicle then glided to a landing back at spaceport.
Saturday's attempted the test flight was already overdue. It was scheduled for November but Virgin Galactic delayed the mission after a surge in coronavirus cases prompted the New Mexico state government to implement new restrictions.the New Mexico facility in May 2019.