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Space plane broke into pieces above Mojave Desert, California, on first flight using experimental rocket fuel.
One pilot died in the crash, another parachuted out of falling plane but was seriously injured in the disaster.
SpaceShipTwo plane had swapped rubber-based rocket fuel for a higher-performing plastic blend today.
Witnesses who rushed to falling debris reported seeing dead pilot strapped into his seat with body parts missing.
Virgin founder Richard Branson has sunk $500million into space company, which launched in 2004.
Virgin Galactic in hangar before the flight.
On the runway before take-off.
The rocket ship attached to it's mother ship.
The rocketship after it detached from WhiteKnightTwo, the twin-hulled airplane which carries the main vessel to 45,00ft before dropping it to make the sub-orbital space flight by itself.
The rocket engine can be seen starting to catch fire, right, as SpaceShipTwo streaks away from the carrier.
The SpaceShipTwo plane is pictured coming to pieces after a mid-air launch useing an experimental rocket fuel.
Fragments of the plane plummeted to earth after it started to break apart, white smoke pouring, in the fatal accident.
Parts of the crashed spacecraft in the Mojave desert.
Two pilots were onboard, and authorities confirmed one was dead, with the second being taken to hospital in Lancaster with serious injuries.
Parachutes were seen amidst the wreckage as seen in this image from ABC.
Virgin Galactic's spaceship in an earlier, successful flight.
Cars and emergency vehicles rushed to the remote desert spot to help at the crash site.
Two rescue workers investigate wreckage from the fuselage.
Richard Branson and SpaceShipTwo designer Burt Rutan are pictured above posing with a model of the spaceplane and its launching craft.
Spaceship coming in for a safe landing during a previous run.
SpaceShip was flying under it's own rocket power after being released from its mothership - then Virgin tweeted that it had 'experienced an in-flight anomaly.
