SpaceShipTwo, its inventively named commercial vehicle designed to take (well-moneyed) civilians into outerspace, has just completed its first rocket-powered test flight.

ENGADGET

Thursday's flawed flight was the first time an Ariane rocket had malfunctioned since Ariane-5's maiden test flight exploded 37 seconds after launch in 1996.

CNN: Ariane rocket puts satellites in defective orbit

At least some of the incoming Republican panel chairmen and other senior GOP lawmakers, these officials said, may view the proposed test flight as circumventing congressional language to quickly develop a new heavy-lift NASA rocket able to transport astronauts past low-earth orbit.

WSJ: Lockheed Martin Sees Space Capsule Test Flight in 2013