Virgin Just Came Forward About Details Of The Probe Into Its Crashed Spacecraft

Most interesting is its detailing of the moment before the crash happened. It highlights what appears to be a failure that could have led to the crash, though it notes the investigation is still ongoing and we don't know for sure yet what happened.

In plain terms, and according to the NTSB investigation, the company says that the lock/unlock lever was pulled prematurely based on how fast the craft was going. That, basically, led to a deployment of the mechanism used for re-entry.

When that happens, the wings separate from the vehicle mid-flight.

Here's a detailed look at how the Spacecraft works:

Here is the most crucial passage from the statement, detailing the NTSB investigation:

The company also notes that it is still building the second iteration of the SpaceShipTwo, in fact it's 65% done.

Here's the full statement: