The first sign there was a problem with Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo came at about 45,000 feet, just two minutes after the spaceplane separated from the jet-powered aircraft that carried it aloft.
It wasn't something overt with SpaceShipTwo, said Stuart Witt, the chief executive of Mojave Air & Space Port in California, where it was launched and monitored.
It was what didn't happen next during the test flight, he said. Witt did not offer details, but appeared to indicate the spaceplane did not follow its previous test-flight patterns.
Nothing seemed abnormal during the takeoff or flight prior to the spaceplane's failure Friday, Witt told reporters. The manned spaceplane broke apart during a test flight over the Mojave Desert, killing one pilot and injuring a second pilot.
Virgin Galactic conducted "extensive ground testing of all parts of the spaceship," said Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group.
"We've always known that the road to space is extremely difficult -- and that every new transportation system has to deal with bad days early in their history," Branson said in a statement as he was en route to the firm's Mojave site.
The pilot who is hospitalized parachuted to the ground, Virgin Galactic said.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all those affected by this tragic accident," it said.
The two pilots worked for Scaled Composites, its president, Kevin Mickey, said. He declined to publicly identify the pilots or detail their experience.
"Space is hard, and today was a tough day. We are going to be supporting the investigation as we figure out what happened today, and we are going to get through it," Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said.
"The future rests in many ways on hard, hard days like this."
For years, Virgin Galactic has planned to sell trips in which SpaceShipTwo transports passengers about 62 miles above Earth -- the beginning of outer space -- and lets them experience a few minutes of weightlessness before returning to ground.
The incident occurred over the Mojave Desert shortly after SpaceShipTwo separated from WhiteKnightTwo, the vehicle designed to carry it aloft, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The jet-powered WhiteKnightTwo returned safely to the Mojave Air & Space Port, Witt said.
Said Branson: "This was the latest part of an extensive test flight program, and the 55th time SpaceShipTwo had flown. It was WhiteKnightTwo's 173rd flight and the 35th time SpaceShipTwo had flown freely."
Questions are being raised about a new fuel mixture used after Mickey said it had been ground-tested a number of times, but Friday's flight was the first time it was used in a test flight.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation with FAA support, under a voluntary cooperative agreement between the agencies.
Deadly day for space tourism -- but future 'rests' on such days, official says
NASA administrator Charles Bolden offered his condolences to the family of the pilot killed in the test flight failure.
"While not a NASA mission, the pain of this tragedy will be felt by all the men and women who have devoted their lives to exploration," Bolden said. "Spaceflight is incredibly difficult, and we commend the passion of all in the space community who take on risk to push the boundaries of human achievement."
It's unclear what the failure of the spaceplane will mean for the program. Virgin Galactic planned to send paying customers on SpaceShipTwo as early as next year.
Virgin has sold more than 700 tickets, each costing more than $250,000, for future flights. Several celebrities have already signed up, including Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher, Leonardo DiCaprio and Stephen Hawking.
With composite lightweight materials, "feathered" rudders capable of turning 90 degrees and a hybrid rocket engine, SpaceShipTwo is as safe as modern technology can make it. As designer and aviator Burt Rutan put it in 2008, "This vehicle is designed to go into the atmosphere in the worst case straight in or upside down and it'll correct."
(CNN)
