The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday announced it has cleared Virgin Galactic to resume flight operations after the company agreed to make some changes in its communication procedures.
The mishap investigation by the FAA into Virgin Galactic's July 11 flight out of Spaceport America in Southern New Mexico found the company's SpaceShipTwo vehicle deviated from its assigned airspace on its descent from space, according to a statement from the federal regulatory agency. As part of the investigation, the FAA also found Virgin Galactic failed to communicate the deviation to the agency as required, the statement said.
Virgin Galactic was required to implement changes on how it communicates to the FAA during flight operations, and the statement said the company has made the changes.
According to a statement from Virgin Galactic, the changes include providing updated calculations to expand the protected airspace for future flights.
"Designating a larger area will ensure that Virgin Galactic has ample protected airspace for a variety of possible flight trajectories during spaceflight missions," the statement read.
Also, the company plans to take additional steps to ensure real-time mission notifications to FAA Air Traffic Control, according to the statement.
“Our entire approach to spaceflight is guided by a fundamental commitment to safety at every level, including our spaceflight system and our test flight program," Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a prepared statement. "We appreciate the FAA’s thorough review of this inquiry. Our test flight program is specifically designed to continually improve our processes and procedures.”
Just prior to the announcement of the FAA investigation, Virgin Galactic announced plans for the 23rd flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity. The flight included carrying three, paying crew members from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council, according to a news release. The hope was to — among other things — evaluate and measure the effects of the transitional phase from gravity to microgravity on the human body.
However, about a week after the announcement, Virgin Galactic announced that a third-party supplier informed the company of a potential manufacturing defect in a flight control component. The company is working to learn if the defect exists in Virgin Galactic vehicles, and what steps to take if it does exist.
The company continues to target a mid-October flight window for the Unity 23 flight at the earliest.
Virgin Galactic anticipates further updates and a specific flight window once the inspection is complete in coordination with the Italian Air Force, according to a statement.
