Virgin Galactic commercial space flight delayed again

The announcement also triggered a 6% drop in the space tourism firm’s shares, as this is the third time the flight gets rescheduled.

Virgin Galactic, owned by billionaire Richard Branson, had postponed the launch before, to the fourth quarter of 2022, and then again to the first quarter of 2023, due to labour shortages and supply-chain difficulties.

"We look forward to returning to space in the fourth quarter and launching commercial service in the first quarter of next year", Chief Executive Officer Michael Colglazier commented at that moment.

"While our short-term plans now call for commercial service to launch in the second quarter of 2023, progress on our future fleet continues" was his announcement this week.

Besides the consistent decrease in the company’s shares, Virgin also recorded a $110.7 million net loss in the second quarter of 2022, when compared to the same period of 2021.

Virgin Galactic space travel ticket sales started in February. Prices were set at $450.000 per person, after a $150.000 seat-booking deposit.

 

Source: reuters.com