(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Abu Dhabi fund which owns a major stake in Virgin Galactic will wait for results of the probe into last week's fatal crash before deciding on its commitment to the project, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
The backing of deep-pocketed Aabar Investments, run by the Abu Dhabi government, may be crucial to Virgin Galactic as it struggles to recover from the accident, which killed one test pilot and left another seriously injured. "As an investor, Aabar is concerned of course. It is a challenge - nothing can be decided until investigations are over," the source said, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject. "For now, it is a wait-and-watch situation."
Asked if Aabar was still committed to Virgin Galactic, the source said only: "There is time to make an assessment of the future strategy."
An Aabar spokesman contacted declined to comment, saying all queries should be directed to Virgin Galactic, part of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group. By email, Virgin Galactic said questions about Aabar's intentions should be addressed to the Abu Dhabi fund.
Aabar bought a 31.8 percent stake in Virgin Galactic in 2010 and raised that to 37.8 percent in 2011, according to Aabar's website. United Arab Emirates media have reported the investment totalled nearly $400m, and have quoted Branson as saying he aimed eventually to open a spaceport in Abu Dhabi. So far, Virgin Galactic has spent about $500m developing its spaceship. Before the crash it had expected to start commercial space tourism services next year, but that now looks very unlikely.
The US National Transportation Safety Board expects it will take up to a year to piece together exactly what triggered the accident and recommend changes to equipment, procedures, operations and other factors that may have caused or contributed to the crash, according to board chairman Christopher Hart.
Virgin Galactic's Chief Executive George Whitesides said his company hoped to complete construction of a second SpaceShipTwo in mid-2015 and begin test flights before the end of the year
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