Virgin Galactic plans commercial space flight for June – 06/15/2023 – Market

Virgin Galactic Holdings, the space tourism company founded by Richard Branson, announced on Thursday that its much-anticipated commercial spaceflight service will launch later this month, sending its shares up more than 55% in trading after the closing of the auction.

The first spaceflight, called “Galactic 01”, is planned for June 27-30, the company said.

“Galactic 02” will follow in early August, with monthly spaceflights expected thereafter, the company said.

Virgin Galactic’s shares had lost more than two-thirds of their value in the past year due to delays in the launch of the company’s commercial service. Shares rose as high as $6.30 in the aftermarket on Thursday.

The company grounded the VSS Unity space plane and its carrier plane in 2021 to make various enhancements to the spacecraft, delaying its first mission at the edge of space for customers.

But in February, Virgin said it completed a lengthy upgrade period for its core tourist spacecraft, paving the way for its first commercial spaceflight. The company’s shares are up about 16% so far in 2023.

The first commercial mission will carry three crew from the Italian Air Force and Italy’s National Research Council to conduct microgravity research, Virgin Galactic said.