Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. won’t be allowed to operate space flights until aviation regulators finish investigating an earlier mission carrying billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday.
Virgin Galactic on Wednesday said the spacecraft, called the Unity, shifted out of its planned trajectory for one minute and 41 seconds as it returned to the ground on July 11, prompting the FAA to examine what happened. Three Virgin Galactic employees joined company founder Mr. Branson for the flight to the edge of space, which attracted extensive attention.
