“Aborting at that moment, however, would have dashed Branson’s hopes of beating his rival Bezos, whose flight was scheduled for later in the month, into space.”
A red entry glide-cone warning lit up on Branson’s flight. Sources inside the company say the safe move was to abort. The pilots kept burning, the ship left its cleared airspace, and the livestream sold it as a flawless joyride. The bike ride to the spaceport was faked too. Virgin Galactic is a marketing company with a rocket attached.