The Associated Press Published Friday, October 31, 2014 3:13PM EDT Last Updated Friday, October 31, 2014 5:03PM EDT<\/p>\n
MOJAVE, Calif. -- A Virgin Galactic space tourism rocket exploded Friday during a test flight, killing a pilot aboard and seriously injuring another while scattering wreckage in Southern California's Mojave Desert, witnesses and officials said. <\/p>\n
The company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson would not say what happened other than that it was working with authorities to determine the cause of the \"accident.\" <\/p>\n
\"During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of SpaceShipTwo,\" Virgin Galactic tweeted. <\/p>\n
Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the crash, told The Associated Press that SpaceShipTwo exploded after a plane designed to take it to high altitude released it and the craft ignited its rocket motor. <\/p>\n
Brown said the wreckage fell in the desert north of Mojave Air and Space Port, where the test flight originated. The area is about 120 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
There is one fatality and one major injury, California Highway Patrol Officer Jesse Borne said. One person parachuted out, he said. <\/p>\n
SpaceShipTwo, which is typically flown by two pilots, was designed to provide a suborbital thrill ride into space before it returns to Earth as a glider. <\/p>\n
Friday's flight marked the 55th for the spaceship, which was intended to be the first of a line of craft that would open space to paying civilians. At 60 feet long, SpaceShipTwo features two large windows for each of up to six passengers, one on the side and one overhead. <\/p>\n
Virgin Galactic -- owned by Branson's Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS of Abu Dhabi -- sells seats on each prospective journey for $250,000, with full payment due at the time of booking. The company says that \"future astronauts,\" as it calls customers, have visited Branson's Caribbean home, Necker Island, and gone through G-force training. <\/p>\n
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Virgin Galactic space tourism rocket explodes during test flight, 1 dead<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Associated Press Published Friday, October 31, 2014 3:13PM EDT Last Updated Friday, October 31, 2014 5:03PM EDT MOJAVE, Calif. -- A Virgin Galactic space tourism rocket exploded Friday during a test flight, killing a pilot aboard and seriously injuring another while scattering wreckage in Southern California's Mojave Desert, witnesses and officials said. Continue reading