The company has over 600 reservations from would-be space tourists, with tickets initially costing $250,000 apiece.
Virgin Galactic shares veered sharply lower Monday after the spaceflight company said it’s made arrangements to sell up to $500 million in stock. The disclosure comes a day after founder Richard Branson briefly rocketed into space aboard Virgin’s winged space plane for the first time in what was the company’s highest-profile flight yet as it looks to begin taking up customers next year. The stock was down about 15 percent as of 1:47 p.m. Eastern. Trading in the stock was briefly halted shortly after the market opened. Virgin is still up 76 percent so far this year. The company didn’t reveal the timing of the proposed stock sale, but said it plans to use the net proceeds to fund manufacturing, development of its spaceship fleet and infrastructure improvements, among other expenses, according to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Virgin Galactic already has more than 600 reservations from would-be space tourists, with tickets initially costing $250,000 apiece. The company received clearance from the Federal Aviation Commission last month to begin taking paying customers into space from its facilities in New Mexico, something the company has said it is looking to start doing next year. The launch with Branson marked the 22nd test flight of Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity space plane.
