Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #SpaceShipTwo
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#VirginGalactic: Another year, another delay. Months, even years go by, between #SpaceShipTwo powered flights. Officially everything goes fine, except that it often doesn't. Everytime commercial flights are right around the corner, but then the deadlines come and go...
...the technology is complicated. And the reality nobody seems to want to address is that the tech might not be robust enough to get to the flight rates that they've been promising for 17 years. SpaceShipOne tech was good enough to win a prize in 2004, but it doesn't scale well.
Chamath and Branson have taken enormous amounts of money out of the company while the schedule has slipped. Two years ago they went public predicting commercial flights in June 2020. Latest projection is Q4 2022. Slipped about 2.5 years in 2 years.
#RichardBranson and #JeffBezos will fly in industry w no mandatory safety regulations to protect passengers & crew. FAA's only focus is making sure that people and property on the ground are not injured or killed. The agency can't step in until there is an accident or close call.
A regulatory moratorium was put in place in 2004. It's been repeatedly extended and will expire in 2023 unless it is renewed. Purpose was to let companies experiment w different designs and approaches without burdening them with costly regulations.
Passengers fly at own risk after signing waiver. Companies required to lay out risks for them. New Mexico where #VirginGalactic #RichardBranson will fly #SpaceShipTwo #VSSUnity on Sunday has a law limiting lawsuits to cases of gross negligence or intentional harm.
