Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is battling to keep alive its dream of putting tourists into space as accusations surfaced that the company had ignored safety warnings, and its dwindling finances came under scrutiny.
The head of the company rejected accusations that it had taken risks with its novel rocket propulsion system and said that it could have a new spacecraft ready to fly next year.
George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic chief executive, said that claims from others in the space industry that Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism company was running high risks marked a difference of professional opinion rather than valid warnings.