Virgin Galactic’s stock price drops following failed spaceflight attempt

Enlarge / SpaceShipTwo Unity is seen shortly after landing in New Mexico on Saturday. (credit: Virgin Galactic)

On Saturday, nearly two full years after its last powered flight, Virgin Galactic attempted to send its sleek SpaceShipTwo space plane on its third suborbital flight above 80km.

However, shortly after the space plane was released from its carrier aircraft, named White Knight Two, the ignition sequence to light the space plane's motor did not complete. As a result, the rocket motor failed to fire, and the two pilots on board safely glided the vehicle back to a runway in New Mexico rather than soaring above the atmosphere.

This flight came almost exactly two years after the company's first successful suborbital flight in December 2018 and 22 months since its second suborbital flight in February 2019. Since then, Virgin Galactic has been moving its operations from California to New Mexico, modifying the interior of SpaceShipTwo's cabin for passenger flights and promising stockholders it would soon begin commercial flights and increase its cadence of operations.