Washington (AFP)

After the triumph of July, a difficult return to Earth for Virgin Galactic: two months after having taken its flamboyant founder, Richard Branson, to space, the iconic vessel of the company finds itself grounded in the face of the revelation of serious incidents during the flight.

The United States Aviation Agency (FAA) has announced that it is investigating a deviation from the trajectory of this highly publicized flight, which was supposed to mark the company's entry into the era of space tourism with a bang.

Richard Branson was on July 11 the first billionaire to go to space aboard the spacecraft of a private company that he himself created - before Jeff Bezos a few days later.

But while Virgin Galactic at the time assured that everything had gone according to plan, the spacecraft actually flew briefly outside the airspace dedicated to the mission.

"Virgin Galactic will not be able to fly its SpaceShipTwo in flight until the FAA approves the final investigation report or determines that the issues related to the incident do not affect public safety," the agency said. American in a statement sent to AFP.

“SpaceShipTwo has deviated from its air traffic control clearance by returning to Spaceport America,” the space base used by the company in the New Mexico desert, she said.

- Red light -

The development comes after the publication of a New Yorker article on Wednesday that revealed that security alerts were lit in the ship's cockpit during the flight, synonymous with a serious problem that could have resulted in a fatal outcome.

The trajectory problem threatened to compromise the return phase to Earth, when the spacecraft hovered until it landed on a runway, according to the newspaper.

Quoting anonymous sources within the company, he said the safest way to react to these alerts would have been to stop the mission.

But the two pilots on board decided to continue the flight despite these lights, and the landing finally went smoothly.

The vessel carried, in addition to Richard Branson and the two pilots, three other passengers employed by the company.

Prestigious guests - including SpaceX founder Elon Musk - as well as all the press were invited to the event, broadcast live on the internet.

In a statement ahead of the FAA's announcement, Virgin Galactic strongly contested the article's findings.

"When the vehicle encountered high altitude winds, which altered the trajectory, the pilots and systems monitored the trajectory to ensure that it remained within mission parameters," detailed the 'business.

"Our pilots responded appropriately to these changing flight conditions."

Neither the public nor the crew were endangered, Virgin Galactic argued, continuing to call the mission "successful."

"Although the final path deviated from our original plan, it was an intentional and controlled flight path," she said.

- Next mission threatened?

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The Virgin Galactic ship is not a "standard" rocket taking off vertically.

The company uses a huge carrier plane, which takes off from a conventional runway, then drops a spacecraft (SpaceShipTwo) aloft, resembling a large private jet.

This then ignites its engine until it exceeds 80 km in altitude - the limit of space according to the American army -, then glides down again.

Passengers can break away and experiment for a few minutes in zero gravity.

This ban on flying until further notice is a blow for Virgin Galactic, which had just confirmed Thursday the holding of a new test flight "at the end of September or the beginning of October".

This flight must be devoted to scientific research, in partnership with the Italian Air Force.

The group's stock fell suddenly after the FAA's announcement and was down around 5% around 6:15 p.m. GMT.

© 2021 AFP