Billionaire Richard Branson's aerospace company Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. reported that it had postponed the start of private space flights to the end of 2022 in order to finalize the spaceships.
Previously, it was assumed that this service will be launched in the third quarter of 2022.
The company had to investigate a potential defect in one of the components provided by the supplier. The problem was solved, but the checks took some time, because of which the launch of the service had to be postponed.
Now Virgin Galactic has decided to focus on improving the aircraft, which will deliver a spacecraft with a crew and passengers to an altitude of about 14 thousand meters and then ensure its launch into space, and on improving the spacecraft itself.
Before the start of passenger flights, the company is planning three more test flights with a crew. A Virgin Galactic spokesman noted that work on improving the ship will be completed before test flights, thus highlighting the primary role of safety for the company.
Earlier, Virgin Galactic announced that a flight into space would cost at least $ 450,000.
Richard Branson made the first suborbital flight on a Unity rocket plane on July 11. The flight lasted an hour. The spacecraft launched the White Knight Two carrier aircraft, Unity detached from it and turned on its own engines to climb to an altitude of more than 80 kilometers.
