An important step toward Virgin launches

The successful test flight last week for SpaceShipTwo was an important step for Virgin Galactic as it continues working toward the start of commercial suborbital launches from Spaceport America.

Those launches would have likely started by now if not for the 2014 explosion during a test flight above Mojave, California, that claimed the life of the spaceship’s co-pilot and set back testing and development considerably.

The National Transportation Safety Board said co-pilot error in activating the spacecraft’s feathering system too soon was responsible for the fatal accident. Virgin Galactic officials have said changes to the system’s design would prevent that from happening again.

Last week’s test flight was the first for the new SpaceShipTwo, which was built by Virgin’s manufacturing arm, The Spaceship Company. The earlier versions had been built by Scaled Composite, a different company.

This test was a “captive carry” flight, meaning the spaceship remained attached to its carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, throughout the flight. Glide tests, where the spaceship will be released from the carrier, will come later.

The first SpaceShipTwo had flown 54 times before the fatal crash, providing useful data that can be incorporated into the new spaceship, Virgin Galactic said in a statement last week.

“With this flight in the books, our team will now analyze a mountain of flight data, learning what worked well and what could be improved for our next flight test,” the statement said. “Only when that analysis is done, along with detailed vehicle inspections, some already-planned work, and potentially more captive carry flights, will we be ready to move into the next phase of test flight.”

It was an “emotional and fulfilling moment for our hardworking team,” Virgin said, but clearly much more work needs to be done before passengers can safely and routinely be launched into suborbital space. We know from past experience that overly optimistic time lines only build false hopes. Last week’s test was an important step, but it is still impossible to say with any degree of certainty when commercial launches will begin.

Meanwhile, Spaceport America has been without a chief executive officer for the past month since the resignation of Christine Anderson. The Spaceport Authority has sent the resumes of two apparently well-qualified applicants, Daniel C. Hicks and John E. Williams, to the governor’s office for consideration, but no decisions have been made yet.

The search process was expedited in an effort to prevent a lengthy vacancy during a critical period for the spaceport. Officials recently announced a series of new events that will take place at Spaceport America in the coming months. And, the spaceport will undoubtedly face a challenging legislative session in January, when lawmakers will certainly need to make further cuts to the budget

It is important that the spaceport has a strong leader in place for the challenges that are to come. We encourage the governor to act swiftly in filling this vacancy.