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But in any case, Virgin Galactic has stated that it will actively cooperate with the FAA’s investigation to resolve future and airspace issues.
Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic, took his VSS Unity spacecraft to the edge of space in mid-July. However, although the entire voyage seems to be a great success on the surface, according to The New Yorker, during the descent process, VSS Unity actually deviated from the scheduled route and entered the unapproved airspace. An FAA spokesperson also confirmed the incident to Reuters and said that Unity had deviated from the designated airspace for a total of 1 minute and 41 seconds before driving the revised route. The FAA had opened an investigation into the incident.
However, Virgin Galactic denied the seriousness of the matter, stating that Unity encountered unexpected strong winds at high altitude and adjusted the course according to training. During the whole process, there was no harm to the crew or other nearby aircraft. . Virgin Galactic also emphasized that the so-called “entering unauthorized airspace” is a vertical deviation, which means that Unity lowered its altitude in advance during the descent process, rather than flying outside a designated safe area.
But in any case, Virgin Galactic has stated that it will actively cooperate with the FAA’s investigation to resolve future and airspace issues.