US officials have started
to investigate why a Virgin Galactic space
rocket crashed over
California's Mojave desert on a test flight.One pilot died and the other was badly injured when SpaceShipTwo exploded shortly after take-off on Friday.
A National Transportation Safety Board team arrived in Mojave on Saturday and was heading to the crash site.
Virgin chief Sir Richard Branson said he was "determined to find out what went wrong" and learn from the tragedy.
Speaking at the at the Mojave Air and Space Port, where the craft was being developed, Virgin Group founder Sir Richard said "nobody underestimates the risks involved in space travel".
Virgin had hoped to launch commercially in 2015. It has already taken more than 700 flight bookings at $250,000 (£156,000) each, with Sir Richard pledging to travel on the first flight.
"We owe it to our test pilots to find out what went wrong, and once we find out, if we can overcome it, we will make sure that the dream lives on," Sir Richard added.
A team of between 13 and 15 NTSB investigators - including specialists in structures, systems, engines and vehicle performance - arrived in Mojave on Saturday morning and would begin on-site work later in the day, NTSB acting chairman Christopher Hart said.
Their work would include detailed examination of all available data, work at the crash site and interviewing witnesses, Mr Hart said.
"This was a test flight and test flights are typically very well documented in terms of data," he added.
Wreckage from the crash is scattered across a large area of the Mojave desert, north-east of Los Angeles. Police secured the site amid fears that some of the debris could be explosive.
Source:BBC
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