Virgin Galactic [...] Local authorities have confirmed that one of the two Scaled Composites pilots died during the accident”. This was in strong contrast to public communications previously released concerning the group's successful flights, which had routinely presented pilots, craft, and projects within the same organizational structures, as being "Virgin Galactic" flights or activities of "the Galactic team". The BBC's David Shukman commented that: “Even as details emerge of what went wrong, this is clearly a massive setback to a company hoping to pioneer a new industry of space tourism. Confidence is everything and this will not encourage the long list of
Space Tourism Society Space Tourism Society The Space Tourism Society (STS) was founded in 1996. It is the first organization specifically focused on the space tourism industry. Their stated goals, quoted from their website: "To conduct the research, build public desire, and acquire the financial and political power to make space tourism available to as many people as possible as soon as possible." STS has chapters in Japan, Norway, Canada, Malaysia, India, Russia and the United Kingdom, and is an organization member of the Alliance for Space Development. The STS is a California 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in the USA. STS aims to