Richard Branson's SpaceShip Two Crashes, One Pilot Dead

A full-scale replica of Virgin Galactic's SpaceshipTwo

John Angelillo/Landov

By K.C. Blumm

10/31/2014 AT 03:10 PM EDT

A spaceship that is part of billionaire Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic crashed during a test flight Friday.

The SpaceShip Two rocket plane "suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss [of the vehicle]," Virgin Galactic said in a Tweet.

Two pilots were believed to be in the plane during the test flight over the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, and the Associated Press reports that there was one fatality and another person suffered major injuries.

Photographer Ken Brown, who was covering the test flight, told NBC News that he saw a midflight explosion and later found debris scattered across the desert.

The Associated Press reports that the incident happened after the spacecraft was released from the plane that carried it to high altitude. SpaceShip Two ignited its rocket motor and then exploded.

More than 700 people, including Ashton Kutcher, Kate WInslet, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lance Bass have reportedly paid up to $250,000 for a two-and-a-half-hour ride into space on the rocket plane.