Virgin Galactic announced its plans for the first commercial flight in next month. This is a major breakthrough for Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism dreams after years of delays.
After scheduling a test flight with four members for late May and a commercial service scheduled for late June, shares of the company rose by up to 10 percent.
Branson, the man who founded Virgin Galactic to create spacecraft capable of launching tourists into orbit in 2004, was aboard a Test Flight two years ago that flew from Earth to space. Since then, it has faced many challenges such as supply chain problems and its stock is down.
Branson’s satellite launch company Virgin Orbit , Branson’s other space venture, filed for bankruptcy. The group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April after a failed attempt to raise cash for operations. They were also searching for a buyer. The group had cut 671 jobs, or 87 percent of its workforce.
Virgin Galactic in Tustin (California) went public in America in 2019 after merging with the special purpose acquisition company or Spac. The shares of Virgin Galactic initially surged, but have since fallen by more than 90% from their peak.
Mike Moses, Virgin Galactic’s president of spaceline mission and safety, stated that “returning to the space is something we have all worked toward.” Our mission specialists were chosen for their varied expertise, and they could not be better qualified to validate the astronauts training programme and experience. We will start flying customers into space after this flight.
Yesterday, the group’s shares were up 8.5%, or 31 cents at $3.90, by New York lunchtime. It’s worth $1.1 billion.