US officials begin probe into Virgin Galactic crash in Mojave

Two days after Virgin Galactic's space rocket went down over Mojave Desert in California during a test flight, the United States officials have reportedly launched an investigation into the crash.

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team arrived in Mojave on Saturday and is expected to stay at the crash site for four to seven days, NTSB chairman Christopher Hart said. However, he added that the investigation may take up to 12 months to complete and will be carried out by a team of 13 and 15 investigators, reported the BBC.

The team will include specialists in structures, systems, engines and vehicle performance. They would conduct a detailed examination of all the available data and interview witnesses, Hart said. He added that Virgin Galactica would however, be free to conduct further flights during the investigation.

Virgin Galactica founder Sir Richard Branson said that he was determined to find out what went wrong and learn from the tragedy. He said that he wanted to make sure that the "dream lives on."

Virgin had hoped to launch commercially in 2015 and had already taken about 700 flight bookings at 250,000 dollars each.

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

The death of one of the two pilots marks a major blow for the project and its billionaire founder who immediately headed to the scene by plane.