Boeing Takes Legal Action Against Virgin Galactic over Development of New Mothership aircraft

Space News ,World :-  Boeing and Aurora Flight Sciences are upset with Virgin Galactic! They've filed a lawsuit because they say Virgin Galactic hasn't paid them for their work and has been sharing their secret information.

Virgin Galactic is in trouble! Boeing and Aurora Flight Sciences are taking them to court. They say Virgin Galactic owes them a whopping $26.4 million for the work they did. This work was all about creating a new "mothership" aircraft. This special aircraft would help Virgin Galactic's space planes fly into suborbital space. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on March 21.

But Virgin Galactic doesn't agree with Boeing and Aurora Flight Sciences. They say the lawsuit isn't fair. They're ready to fight back and defend themselves strongly.

Virgin Galactic is known for its space tourism. They use a big aircraft, called a mothership, to carry their space plane up high. Then, the space plane goes on its own rocket-powered adventure into space.

In 2022, Virgin Galactic chose Aurora Flight Sciences to build two new motherships. These were supposed to be ready by 2025 and would replace the current one they use, named VMS Eve. These new motherships were meant to fly up to 200 times a year!

But things didn't go as planned. Work stopped in May 2023 after they finished the basic design. Boeing and Aurora Flight Sciences say they couldn't finish the new mothership because of money and time problems. They just couldn't make it work like Virgin Galactic wanted.

Boeing and Aurora Flight Sciences are also mad because they think Virgin Galactic stole their secrets. They say Virgin Galactic got their hands on some important technical stuff, like how the aircraft performs, by mistake. Now, Boeing and Aurora want Virgin Galactic to get rid of this secret info.

Virgin Galactic doesn't want to give up the secrets, though. They say they have the right to keep them because of their deal with Boeing and Aurora.

Instead of working on the new mothership, Virgin Galactic has decided to focus on making their Delta-class space plane. They'll still use the old mothership, VMS Eve, for their test and commercial flights.

So, things are pretty heated between these space companies! Boeing and Aurora Flight Sciences want their money, and they want their secrets back. But Virgin Galactic is standing firm, saying they've done nothing wrong. It's a big space showdown!