Entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson says he is determined to find out what caused a passenger rocket ship being developed by his space tourism firm to crash during a test flight in California’s Mojave desert, killing one pilot and injuring the other.<br /><br />As US officials began their inquiry and press reports named the dead man as 39-year-old Mike Alsbury, an emotional Sir Richard spoke to reporters close to where SpaceShipTwo came down.<br /><br />“We are going to learn from what went wrong, discover how we can improve safety and performance and then move forward together. I truly believe that humanity’s greatest achievements come out of our greatest pain,” he said.<br /><br />The second disaster in less than a week for a private space company, Friday’s crash is a big blow to Virgin Galactic’s bid to give those who can afford it a taste of what only astronauts usually experience.<br /><br />The inquiry could focus on the space craft’s rocket engine, flying with a new type of fuel for the first time.
