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The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Space Touring Airplane-Rocket is returning after a test flight in California on December 13, 2018. Billionaire Richard Branson is joining a group of investors to make its space tourism business.
Gene Blevins / Reuters
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Gene Blevins / Reuters
The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Space Touring Airplane-Rocket is returning after a test flight in California on December 13, 2018. Billionaire Richard Branson is joining a group of investors to make its space tourism business.
Gene Blevins / Reuters
Updated at 13:49. AND
Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company founded by billionaire Richard Branson, is preparing to go public by the end of 2019, through a merger with an existing company.
This would be the first spaceflight company to belong to the state; Blue Origin by Jeff Bezos and SpaceX from Elon Musk are both private companies.
Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 and suffered a major setback in 2014 when a test flight crashed. But over the past year, the company has successfully completed two crewed space flights.
More than 600 people paid to book seats on future commercial flights – depositing an $ 80 million collective deposit, according to Virgin Galactic, and earning an additional $ 120 million at the time of their actual visit.
But for these flights to become a reality, the company needs more funds. Branson was talking about a substantial investment from Saudi Arabia, but he canceled those plans after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Now, a group of investors is collaborating with Branson to take Virgin Galactic on the stock market as an alternative way of raising funds.
These investors have organized themselves into a company called Social Capital Hedosophia, which will merge with Virgin Galactic to convert it into a publicly traded company. Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of Social Capital Hedosophia, will chair the merged company; the partner investors will hold up to 49% of the shares.
Palihapitiya was one of the first leaders of Facebook. Adam Bain, the former chief of operations of Twitter, is another major investor in the plan.
By merging with Social Capital Hedosophia, Virgin Galactic will be able to go public without having to organize an initial public offering.
"We know that millions of people are deeply inspired by manned spaceflight, would like to become more involved and ultimately create a place," Branson said in a statement on Monday before announcing plan details. . "By taking Virgin Galactic to the public, at this advanced stage of development, we can open spaces for more investors and, in the process, thousands of new astronauts."
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