Last July, Richard Branson flew into space aboard his company, Virgin Galactic, ahead of the world's richest man Jeff Bezos. However, it turned out that there was something that was considered to be a nuisance on this flight, so the authorities launched an investigation.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating why the plane had veered off its permitted air path as it returned to Earth from orbit.
"Virgin Galactic will not be able to fly SpaceShip Two until the FAA agrees that the issues associated with this incident have no impact on public safety," an FAA spokesperson said in a statement.
It is suspected that the pilots of Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity carrying Richard Branson and three other crew members had received warnings as they detached from their mothership into space.
It indicated that the craft did not fly vertically enough to return to Earth with sufficient momentum to veer off course on its way to land. It is considered dangerous.
In response, Virgin Galactic said the FAA investigation had no impact on future flights. The company, which was founded in 2004, is preparing many flights for civilians who have already paid a high price.
"We take this matter seriously and are looking into the cause of the problem and determining how to prevent it from happening again in future missions," said a Virgin Galactic spokesperson.
Virgin Galactic's flight tickets to space have been sold to the public, but there has been a price increase from the previous USD 200 thousand to USD 450 thousand. There are already about 600 people ready to take to the skies on Virgin Galactic's planes.
