New Footage Of Virgin Galactic Spaceship Burns & Crash In Mojave Desert. The company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson said the manned rocket experienced a "serious anomaly." The co-pilot was killed and the pilot seriously injured after ejecting over the Mojave Desert. SpaceShipTwo exploded after WhiteKnightTwo, a plane that flew it to a higher altitude, released it for its flight into space. The plane landed safely. "We will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident," the company said on Twitter. Branson, who was expected to arrive at the scene Saturday, said in a statement Friday night that "Space is hard — but worth it. We will persevere and move forward together." SpaceShipTwo was designed to give thrill-seeking passengers suborbital rides, allowing them to experience about six minutes of weightlessness 62 miles above Earth. A host of celebrities — including Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio — are among those who shelled out deposits on $250,000 tickets for seats aboard SpaceShipTwo. Virgin Galactic has sold more than 700 tickets to "future astronauts," as it refers to its customers. The incident was the second this week involving the commercial space industry. Virgin Galactic also experienced a fatal accident in 2007, when the rocket's propulsion system exploded at the Mojave Air and Space Port in the Mojave Desert and killed three workers and critically injured three others. SpaceShipTwo is one of several spacecraft owned by Virgin Galactic, a New York-based unit of Virgin Group. SpaceShipTwo is one of several spacecraft owned by Virgin Galactic, a New York-based unit of Virgin Group. Branson envisioned operating flights by 2007 when Virgin Group licensed the technology from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who invested about $26 million in SpaceShipOne. Virgin Galactic planned to launch flights from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico.
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