Originally due to begin commercial flights this month, Virgin Galactic announced these would be delayed until Q4 2022.

Stock prices fell. Predictably.

Business Insider (Oz) have reported that this is unrelated to the recent serious anomalies which occured during their July crewed test flight and which resulted in their grounding and FAA investigation. But that may not be right.

Virgin's press release doesn't mention that flight at all. It details that this delay is unrelated to another component inquiry.

This schedule update is unrelated to the Company’s recent inquiry into a potential defect in a supplier component announced on September 10, 2021, which has been successfully resolved. While the supplied component in question was not on either VMS Eve or VSS Unity, in accordance with safety protocols, Virgin Galactic completed detailed inspections and scans which found all components met quality and safety standards and were ready for flight.

They say:

The enhancement program is designed to improve vehicle performance and flight-rate capability for VMS Eve and VSS Unity. In preparation for this work, Virgin Galactic has been performing routine tests and analyses to update its material properties database. This data predicts how materials are expected to perform under certain load and environmental conditions and is used to inform the design and manufacturing enhancements that will support increased flight frequency. One of these recent laboratory-based tests flagged a possible reduction in the strength margins of certain materials used to modify specific joints, and this requires further physical inspection.

It would be "routine" to perform "laborary-based tests" following the problems reported on the July flight and also in response to an FAA investigation.

They explicitly deny a connection between that other problem and this delay. They don't explicitly deny a connection between the July test flight problems and this delay.

Competitor Blue Origin's successfully launched a Starfleet captain into space this week and last month SpaceX launched the first all civilian crew into space.

[ Main Image: Spaceport America. Credit: Virgin Galactic. ]

References

Schmidle, Nicholas (September 1, 2021). The Red Warning Light on Richard Branson’s Space Flight. The New Yorker.

Sonnemaker, Tyler (October 14, 2021). Virgin Galactic shares plummet after company says it will delay commercial spaceflights until Q4 2022. Business Insider.

Virgin Galactic (October 14, 2021). Virgin Galactic Begins Planned Vehicle Enhancement and Modification Period; Unity 23 Test Flight Rescheduled to Follow Completion of This Program. Business Wire.