Mojave, Calif. • Billionaire Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, saluting the bravery of test pilots, vowed Saturday to find out what caused the crash of his prototype space-tourism rocket, killing one crew member and injuring another.
In grim remarks at the Mojave Air and Space Port where the craft was under development, Branson gave no details of Friday's accident and deferred to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), whose team had just arrived.
"We are determined to find out what went wrong," he said, asserting that safety has always been the top priority of the program, which envisions taking wealthy tourists to the edge of space for a brief experience of weightlessness and a view of Earth below.
"Yesterday we fell short," he said. "We'll now comprehensively assess the results of the crash and are determined to learn from this and move forward."
Branson added that "We are not going to push on blindly."
More than a dozen investigators in a range of specialties were forming teams to examine the crash site, collect data and interview witnesses, NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart told a news conference at the space port.
"This will be the first time we have been in the lead of a space launch [accident] that involved persons onboard," said Hart, noting that the NTSB did participate in investigations of the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters.
Hart said he did not immediately know the answers to such questions as whether the spaceship had flight recorders or the altitude of the accident but noted that test flights are usually well documented.
The NTSB investigators were expected to head to an area about 20 miles from the Mojave airfield where debris from Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo fell over a wide area of uninhabited desert Friday morning.
Branson has been the front-runner in the fledgling space tourism industry, which has taken years longer than expected by hundreds of enthusiasts who have already put down deposits to reserve seats.
On Saturday, he said none of the money has been spent and anyone who wanted a refund could get it, but no one has asked. Rather, he said, someone signed up on the day of the accident in a show of support.
"They've been patient to date," he said of his customers. "I think most of them will be patient longer."
The spacecraft broke up after being released from a carrier aircraft at high altitude, according to Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the accident.
One pilot was found dead inside the spacecraft and another parachuted out and was flown by helicopter to a hospital, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said.
Friday's flight marked the 55th for SpaceShipTwo. This was only the fourth flight to include a brief rocket firing. The rockets fire after the spacecraft is released from the underside of a larger carrying plane. During other flights, the craft either was not released from its mothership or functioned as a glider after release.
Virgin Galactic sells seats on each prospective journey for $250,000. The company says that "future astronauts," as it calls customers, include Stephen Hawking, Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Russell Brand. The company reports receiving $90 million from about 700 prospective passengers.
Ken Baxter was one of those who had signed up to be among the first to make the flight.
Despite the disaster, Las Vegas resident Baxter said he was confident that the flight will happen one day.
"It's very sad for the test pilots, but I'm ready to go into space with Richard Branson," he said.
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