Virgin Galactic has its permission back

Virgin Galactic has received permission from the US aviation authority FAA to return flights to the edge of space, the space company reports Wednesday. That was temporarily not allowed due to an ongoing investigation into an earlier test flight.

Virgin Galactic is the aerospace company of billionaire Richard Branson. He made a flight to space in July. He flew in a rocket to the edge of space and then landed back on Earth.

The spacecraft would have deviated from the original plan during take-off and flown less steeply than intended. The pilots would have seen yellow warning lights, but did nothing about them. The FAA then announced an investigation into the flight.

That investigation has now been completed. Virgin Galactic will have to make more extensive calculations of the FAA from now on. The company must also take additional steps in the flight process and ensure that they are notified to the FAA in a timely manner.

Virgin Galactic stated earlier that the crew was never in danger. According to the company, the change in the route was due to strong wind.