One pilot killed in Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo crash

A pilot who ejected, was injured, authorities said. The pilot was found at the scene and taken to a local hospital, Kern County Sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt said.

Two pilots were on board the spaceship, which was undergoing its first powered test flight since January.

Sir Richard Branson said his thoughts are with all those at Virgin Galactic and partner business Scaled, adding: “Thanks for all your messages of support. I’m flying to Mojave immediately to be with the team.”

The chief executive of Mojave Air and Space Port said officials “can’t speculate” on the cause of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crash.

Stewart Witt said the death of the unnamed pilot “hurts” and said the thoughts and prayers of his team were “absolutely” with the families of the victims.

The chief executive of Virgin Galactic has said “space is hard and today was a tough day”.

“We are going to be supporting the investigation as we figure out what happened today and we’re going to get through it,” George Whiteside said at a news conference at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

On Tuesday, Orbital Sciences suffered a high-profile rocket launch explosion after lift-off from Wallops Island, Virginia.

In a series of tweets, the commercial space company said:

UPDATE:Virgin Galactic’s partner Scaled Composites conducted a powered test flight of #SpaceShipTwo earlier today. (1 of 4)

— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014

During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of SpaceShipTwo. WK2 landed safely. (2 of 4)

— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014

We will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident and provide updates ASAP. (4 of 4)

— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014