The next mission for the company's space plane VSS Unity could come as early as mid-October pending inspections of the craft and other conditions. However, a flight window had not yet been announced Thursday.
The FAA confirmed that the Unity, also known as SpaceShipTwo, deviated from its designated course and into unauthorized airspace on the highly publicized test flight, which held a full crew including the commercial spaceline's founder, Richard Branson. The mission took place at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Additionally, the agency found that the company had not reported the course deviation as required under terms of its license.
The spacecraft, which uses a rocket motor to reach the edge of space before falling back to Earth and making a glide landing, was grounded for the duration of the mishap investigation.
"The FAA required Virgin Galactic to implement changes on how it communicates to the FAA during flight operations to keep the public safe," the agency announced Wednesday, continuing: " Virgin Galactic has made the required changes and can return to flight operations."
The official report detailing root causes of the incident and steps made to rectify them was not immediately made available, however, leaving unanswered the question of why the spacecraft veered from its planned trajectory and entered unauthorized airspace.
In its initial response to the incident, Virgin Galactic attributed the course change to "high altitude winds," but the company's veteran test pilot Mark Stucky, who observed the flight, argued that pilots erred by ascending at the wrong angle and not addressing the change in trajectory. Stucky left the company — reportedly fired — shortly after the July flight.
On its return path, the Unity veered into airspace where other craft would have been navigating via instruments and not visually. No other aircraft were present. Spaceport America is located near federally restricted airspace over the neighboring U.S. Army installation White Sands Missile Range.
Responding via news release, Virgin Galactic said Wednesday it would expand protected airspace for its flights to allow for varying flight trajectories, and modify its procedures to assure timely notifications to FAA Air Traffic Control.
Affirming his company's commitment to safety, Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier wrote in a statement, "Our test flight program is specifically designed to continually improve our processes and procedures. The updates to our airspace and real-time mission notification protocols will strengthen our preparations as we move closer to the commercial launch of our spaceflight experience."
Virgin Galactic also investigated a possible manufacturing defect flagged by a vendor, the company announced earlier in September.
The next test flight, designated "Unity 23," is planned as a revenue-earning flight with members of the Italian Air Force who are training as astronauts aboard.
Following that mission, the company has said it plans to spend a few months delivering upgrades to the Unity and to WhiteKnightTwo (also known as VMS Eve), the aircraft that carries it to an altitude of 50,000 feet before the spacecraft ignites its rocket.
That timeline puts the beginning of regular commercial service at least to mid 2022. Passenger tickets for brief trips to the edge of space, approximately 53 miles over the Earth, are currently being sold at a price of $450,000. Virgin also holds contracts to fly research payloads.
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