Space tourism industry at risk following crash of Virgin Galactic's test flight

People will think twice about going on tourist trips to the edge of space after a pilot was killed and another injured in the crash of a Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo space tourism craft in the California desert.

Hundreds of people had already reserved seats and paid a deposit on the 2,50,000 dollars ticket price for a minutes-long sub-orbital flight on SpaceShipTwo, which can carry six passengers.

However, during its 35th test flight, the space tourism craft exploded over California's Mojave Desert shortly after it being released from its mother ship WhiteKnightTwo, which took it to an altitude of 50,000 feet, Sky News reported.

The death of a pilot marks a major blow for the project and its billionaire founder, Sir Richard Branson, who immediately headed to the scene by plane.

Retired Astronaut Jose Hernandez said that it is a risky business and they need to make sure it's safe for humans to travel into space. He added that the crash is certainly going to make people think twice before getting onto a ship and trying a zero gravity flight into space.

Another pilot was badly injured in what has been described as a catastrophic failure. The company said in a tweet that the craft had suffered a serious anomaly, without going into details.

It was the first flight testing the craft's engine for nine months and experts were also assessing a new type of fuel mixture which is plastic-based rather than a rubber-based compound.

It was also hoped that the new formulation would boost the engine's performance.

The launch date of the project has been put back repeatedly from the original 2007 date, but Branson has claimed that he and his son would be on the inaugural flight by next spring, the report added.