Company Says No One Has Asked For Refund; Four New Ones Have Signed Up

As investigators continue working on their report on a fatal nitrous oxide explosion at Scaled Composites July 26, the intervening month has already provided some perspective on the incident's effect on the fledgling private-sector space race.

The two companies which partnered to build SpaceShipTwo -- Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites -- both reacted quickly to the accident. As ANN reported, the explosion during a cold-fire test claimed the lives of three workers at Scaled, and severely injured three others.

Branson's company adopted a low, respectful profile for the Virgin Galactic site -- posting a three-line notice of the accident, and reserving further comment until after an investigation. In fact, Virgin's response was so muted, company President Will Whitehorn felt compelled to write a rebuttal in London's Evening Standard, to play down rumors in the press the company might be folding.

"It hasn't affected Virgin Galactic as a business at all," Whitehorn told The Associated Press recently. "It hasn't put a stop to anything."

The normally reserved and technically focused website of Rutan's company posted tributes to the lost men, and served as a focal point for both condolences and donations pouring in from all over the world. The company has vowed to share what Scaled -- and outside experts -- learn from the accident with the rest of the industry.

Space business consultant Thomas Matula says Scaled's treatment of the accident shows how personally everyone at the company -- especially Rutan -- took the loss.

"Burt is taking it hard because it's the first time he's lost people," he said. "There is a feeling of shock that some of his friends died."

The AP called the Scaled workers lost in the blast -- Glen May, Eric Blackwell and Todd Ivens -- "the first fatalities of the new space race," but also notes that the industry and customers appear ready to press forward.

Shortly after the accident at Scaled, Virgin Galactic contacted all the customers with $200,000 deposits for suborbital flights.

Not only have none have requested a refund, according to the AP... but four new ones have signed up.

FMI: www.virgingalactic.com, www.scaled.com