Richard Branson’s famous flight to the edge of space has Virgin Galactic stuck on the ground. Oof.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded Branson’s Virgin Galactic. The FAA is investigating how Virgin’s spacecraft returned to the ground, alleging that it deviated from the flight path it agreed to follow.
That might not seem like a huge deal, but the agency is concerned about how the flight could have affected public safety. 😬
A Virgin Galactic spokesperson confirmed the flight flew out of its designated airspace altitude. A New Yorker article indicated that the situation was much more dire than Virgin’s spokespeople claim; the spacecraft supposedly had a “red light” come on, which could have been grounds for aborting the mission.
It’s hard to know what will come from the FAA’s inquiry (or Virgin Galactic’s grounding), but competitor Jeff Bezos is probably laughing right now. Frankly, we’re getting our popcorn ready for the report that will surely come out of this. 🍿 🤣
Investors have seen wilder days for $SPCE‘s stock, which lost just 2.9% today.