Virgin Galactic sets date for Unity spacecraft's final commercial flight

MW Virgin Galactic sets date for Unity spacecraft's final commercial flight

By James Rogers

Virgin Galactic will replace Unity with its new Delta-class spacecraft

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. is targeting a launch window that opens June 8 for its milestone Galactic 07 mission.

The Galactic 07 mission will be the final flight of Virgin Galactic's $(SPCE)$ Unity spacecraft before it halts commercial operations to develop its new Delta-class spacecraft.

In a statement released after market close Wednesday, the aerospace and space-tourism company said that Galactic 07 will fly one research astronaut from private space company Axiom Space and three private astronauts. One private astronaut is from California, one is from New York and the third is from Italy, the company said. The names of the private astronauts have not been released.

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Purdue University and UC Berkeley will also have autonomous payloads on the spacecraft as part of NASA's Flight Opportunities program, which targets suborbital testing of space-exploration technologies. The Galactic 07 mission is the company's second spaceflight in 2024 and its 12th to date.

Virgin Galactic shares ended Thursday's session down 4.9%. The stock is down 64% in 2024, compared with the S&P 500 index's SPX gain of 6.2%.

During the conference call to discuss Virgin Galactic's fourth-quarter results in February, CEO Michael Colglazier said that the Delta Class spaceships remain on track to begin ground and flight testing next year and commercial service in 2026.

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Unlike the current Unity spacecraft, which has four seats for paying passengers, the Delta spacecraft will have six seats, and will be capable of making up to eight spaceflights a month, significantly more than Unity's single spaceflight a month.

Virgin Galactic's cash position is being closely watched. The company's shares slid in December after founder Richard Branson ruled out further investment in the space-tourism company, which had recently fleshed out its near-term growth strategy.

The company lost less money than expected in its fourth-quarter results in February, and saw $3 million in revenue, up from $1 million a year before. The top line was "driven by commercial spaceflights and membership fees related to future astronauts," Virgin Galactic said in its release.

Related: Virgin Galactic narrows losses, but the space-tourism stock drops

Virgin Galactic also said it had a "strong" cash position, amounting to $982 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. The company saw fourth-quarter free cash flow of negative $114 million, while analysts had expected a FCF of negative $130 million.

-James Rogers

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May 03, 2024 07:50 ET (11:50 GMT)

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