Seven months after a Virgin Galactic craft achieved its maiden voyage to suborbital space, the company is setting its sights on another breakthrough: becoming the world’s first publicly traded commercial space travel company.
British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic announced Tuesday, July 9, that it will merge with public investment firm Social Capital Hedosophia. The transaction is expected to close later this year, creating a new, combined company known as Virgin Galactic Holdings.
Branson’s spacecraft manufacturing company, Spaceship Co., will be part of the new company, which will be focused on space tourism — and later, hypersonic point-to-point travel on Earth. His satellite-launching venture, Long Beach-based Virgin Orbit, will continue to operate as a private company.
“By embarking on this new chapter, at this advanced point in Virgin Galactic’s development, we can open space to more investors and in doing so, open space to thousands of new astronauts,” Branson said in a statement.
Full Content: Financial Times
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