N339SS Scaled Composites Spacecraft Explodes in Flight

[Doug Robertson]

The Richard Branson financed and Scaled Composites-designed Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo winged spacecraft blew apart and exploded on fire during a test flight Friday, 31 October 2014 over the Mojave Desert north of KMHV in California. It had been released at high altitude from a carrier aircraft basing from Mojave Air and Space Port KMHV. The pilot was killed and a second pilot parachuted with injuries.

Branson had licensed the technology from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who funded about $26 million for SpaceShipOne, a Burt Rutan design. That design prototype successfully reached space in 2004. The SpaceShipTwo crash occurred during the 55th test flight of the spacecraft, but it was only the fourth flight of the spacecraft to be powered by a rocket. The new rocket fuel used for this flight that crashed was a polyamide-based fuel, a type of thermoplastic rubber called HTPB. The new fuel had been extensively tested on ground. Nothing before this flight indicated any problem, or safety issue. The NTSB is investigating the accident.

SpaceShipTwo at 60 feet long featured two long windows for each of up to six passengers, one side window and one overhead.

There is one photo of N339SS on this site showing the wings folded.