Virgin Galactic was 'too pushy' with space ferry's commercial launch timeline: Report

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson was reportedly too pushy when it came to announcing the space ferry's commercial launch timeline.

According to The Verge and as reported by The Wall Street Journal, Branson's dates reportedly ran counter to what the company's technical advances suggested it would be able to pull off.

The report said that the management decided to set the start date for space tourism for 2015 even as Virgin's engineers toiled to replace the fuel with a more powerful type that was capable of taking the craft up to space.

A government official reportedly said that the management's attitude was simply "we know best."

Virgin's engineers are of the view that the company set the timelines without taking their opinions into consideration.

The report by the Journal said that high-ranking managers are said to have not taken the ship's propulsion issues, which ultimately resulted in it switching fuel, seriously enough for some time, adding more delays.