Virgin Galactic disaster shows risks are inevitable in space venture

The heavens have always fascinated mankind; it was the reason the world stood still, glued to television screens, on the day in 1969 the first steps were taken on the moon. Being able to go to space, perhaps even kick up the lunar dust, is a dream for many and British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic's experimental passenger spaceships brings it a step closer. An accident on Friday in which one of the craft, SpaceShipTwo, exploded during a test flight and plunged 14km to the Mojave desert in California, killing one pilot and injuring the other, seriously sets back plans for the first commercial trip next year. But few of the hundreds of people who have already paid US$250,000 for the one-minute ride into space have been put off by the tragedy - they know that risks are inevitable with pioneering forms of travel.

Branson's ambitions, and those of his competitors in the potentially lucrative space tourism market, will certainly not be dampened. The private sector is more willing and able to take people to space, the handful of government space agencies that have for decades controlled such travel being ill-equipped to meet the needs of paying customers. Competition means that companies are less prone to taking risks, will design and build better spacecraft and know how to market their trips. Pop singer Lady Gaga is among the dozens of celebrities booked on the first Virgin Galactic flights and is scheduled to sing from space to an earth-bound concert below.

But space travel is challenging - which is why 10 years have passed since SpaceShipOne, built by the US firm Scaled Composites, became the first private manned spacecraft to make a successful trip to the edge of space. Branson signed up to the technology and a series of experiments and stringent tests have since been undertaken to ensure flights are as safe as possible. Air travel is the safest form of transport, but the early days of passenger flight were fraught with danger. For space, therefore, the process cannot be rushed; what Virgin Galactic is doing is new and difficult. Friday's disaster highlighted the risks.