Virgin Galactic NYSE: SPCE loty w kosmos w przyszłości planowane są nawet turystyczne

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Virgin Galactic Vs. Blue Origin Rivalry Escalates With Branson Set To Beat Bezos To Space

https://www.investors.com/news/spce-sto ... st-flight/

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Virgin Galactic. Branson o krok od osiągnięcia kosmosu

Kosmiczny wyścig pomiędzy miliarderami Sir Richardem Bransonem z Virgin Galactic (SPCE) a Jeffem Bezosem z Blue Origin nabiera właściwego tempa. Firma tego pierwszego właśnie uzyskała certyfikację na loty komercyjne, a inwestorzy oszaleli.

Akcje Virgin Galatcic zwariowały wykazując wzrost w trakcie piątkowej sesji o 39%, po informacji, że firma Richarda Bransona uzyskała certyfikację od Federalnej Administracji Lotnictwa (FAA) na wykonywanie pasażerskich lotów kosmicznych o charakterze komercyjnym. Licencja od FAA zezwalająca na loty komercyjne jest pierwszą tego typu, którą agencja wydała na rzecz firmy prywatnej chcącej uprawiać regularną kosmiczną turystykę.

Innymi słowy oznacza to tyle, że Branson jest o krok bliżej 'dosięgnięcia kosmosu' przed swoim rywalem, który niedawno zlicytował bilet na wspólny pierwszy przelot Blue Origin w stratosferę za 28 milionów USD.

© Virgin Galactic
Nadanie komercyjnej licencji od FAA na obsługę pasażerów nastąpiło po ostatnim udanym locie testowym z 22 maja tego roku. Wszystkie dane z lotu testowego, podczas którego uzyskano prędkość Mach 3 i wysokość 55,5 mil, zostały przeanalizowane i jak podała spółka w komunikacie, cele lotu zostały osiągnięte. Wprawdzie spółka planuje jeszcze trzy kolejne loty testowe, niemniej jednak dokument pozwali uczestniczyć w locie samemu Bransonowi.

Virgin Galactic była jedną z pierwszych firm, które weszła na giełdę w ramach procesu fuzji spółek celowych (SPAC) w 2019 r. Notowania spółki są wysoce spekulacyjne i bardzo zmienne. Jeszcze w niedawno, bo 13 maja, sfrustrowani licznymi opóźnieniami w realizacji projektu inwestorzy, wyceniali akcje po zaledwie 15 USD. Przemysł kosmiczny jest inwestycją o wysokim potencjale, ale i grubym ryzyku. Jeżeli Virgin Galactic odniesie sukces, może zmienić sposób, w jaki myślimy o kosmosie, jednak jeżeli coś pójdzie nie po myśli konstruktorów, działalność firmy i jej giełdowe notowania mogą zakończyć się kataftrofą. Kosmiczna wycena firmy na giełdzie w wysokości 13,5 miliarda USD jest oparta tylko i wyłącznie o przyszłą działalność. Na chwilę obecną firma wykazuje minimalne przychody, nie prowadzi żadnej regularnej działalności i ma wysoki ujemny bilans zysków i strat.

Nie zmienia to faktu, że Virgin Galactic jako pierwsza firma może uruchomić nową formę turystyki. Coś, co jeszcze dwie dekady temu było wysoce nieosiągalne, dziś ma szansę zmaterializować się, przynajmniej dla tych klientów, którzy będą mogli pozwolić sobie na kilkuminutową fanaberię za 250 tys. USD. Niemniej jednak ponad 600 rezerwacji, jakie spółka posiada w kalendarzu, jeśli wszystko pójdzie z planem, w niedalekiej przyszłości będzie mogło się zmaterializować.

https://www.paszport.ws//virgin-galacti ... ia-kosmosu

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Virgin Galactic, spółka kosmiczna założona przez brytyjskiego miliardera Richarda Bransona zapowiedziała, że może sprzedać akcje o wartości do 500 mln USD. Zachęcił ją do tego sukces lotu na granicę kosmosu jej pojazdu z Bransonem na pokładzie, jaki miał miejsce w minioną niedzielę.

https://www.pb.pl/po-sukcesie-lotu-bran ... ji-1121930

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Virgin Galactic Q2 Revenue Beats, Reopens Ticket Sales

https://www.investors.com/news/spce-sto ... s-q2-2021/

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Loty turystyczne w Kosmos też drożeją

Akcje Virgin Galactic Holdings drożeją dwucyfrowo w piątek, bo spółka oferująca turystyczne loty w Kosmos podwyższyła cenę biletu do 450 tys. USD.

Prezes Michael Colglazier ogłosił wznowienie sprzedaży biletów po nowej cenie przy okazji publikacji wyników kwartalnych. Dotychczas za lot w Kosmos trzeba było zapłacić 250 tys. USD.

https://www.pb.pl/loty-turystyczne-w-ko ... ja-1124082

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Akcje Virgin Galactic taniały w piątek o ponad 3 proc. po ogłoszeniu (zamk. -2,2%), że  Richard Branson sprzedał część swoich udziałów w spółce za prawie 300 mln USD, pisze Reuters.

Branson sprzedał ok. 4 proc. Virgin Galactic. Po transakcji ma jeszcze 18 proc. i pozostaje największym akcjonariuszem spółki, która ma zarabiać na kosmicznej turystyce, wynika z raportu przedstawionego regulatorowi.

https://www.pb.pl/branson-sprzedal-paki ... sd-1124635

[slayer74]

Virgin Galactic ma swoje problemy - wszystko przez kolejne opóźnienia ich kosmicznych lotów.

https://www.paszport.ws//problemy-techn ... y-w-kosmos

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In other news, Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) jumped 32% on signs of increased commercial activity after the space tourism company said it would start selling tickets to the public on Feb. 16.

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Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) stock rose 4.5% after the space tourism company announced a deal with a subsidiary of Boeing (NYSE:BA), up 0.7%, to build carrier aircraft to support its coming spacecraft fleet.

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Virgin Galactic Slips as Bernstein Cuts to Underperform, Analyst Less Certain Business Will Succeed

Shares of Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) are down 4% today after Bernstein downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a $4 per share price target, down from $7.00.

An analyst said the rating cut was fueled by the continuous delay of future flight operations, maintenance work on the platform, and a need to raise more funding as cash burn continues to rise.

“Since we launched coverage in early 2021, the first commercial flight for private citizens has been pushed back by two years to Q4 2023 and more than $1.2bn in cash has been raised in two equity rounds and a convertible bond offering,” he told clients in a note.

Moreover, the analyst also noted a difficult macro environment where higher interest rates are hiring valuations of early-stage companies.

“The fall in the SPCE share price makes the stock less attractive as a currency for share-based employee compensation. Future equity sales look to be highly dilutive,” the analyst added.

Even more worryingly, the analyst says he doesn’t see a “next thing,” a catalyst that could drive long-term growth in the 2030s.

“We now have less confidence in the success of this business. We previously saw potential for high operating cash generation, but with substantial risk. In our view, risks grew significantly during the last 18 months,” the analyst concludes.

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Richard Branson must face lawsuit in U.S. over Virgin Galactic space travel problems

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-ma ... ms-2935088

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Virgin Galactic Holdings shares slide as losses widen

Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE:SPCE) shares are trading lower early Wednesday after they missed fourth quarter earnings expectations.

The spaceflight company posted a loss per share of $0.55 on revenue of $870K. Analysts expected a loss per share of $0.51, however, revenue topped the $342.62K consensus estimate.

SPCE shares are down over 3% on the back of the report, adding to its over 36% decline in the last 12 months.

The company's net loss widened to $151 million, compared to the $81M net loss in the fourth quarter of 2021. For the full year 2022, its net loss widened to $500M, compared to $353M in 2021.

Nevertheless, SPCE said its cash position remains strong, with cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $980M as of December 31, 2022.

Virgin Galactic, founded by Sir Richard Branson, said it remains on track to begin its first commercial flights in Q2.

Looking ahead, SPCE forecasted a negative free cash flow in the range of negative $135M to negative $145M.

After two recent test flights, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic, Michael Colglazier, said: "It is great to see our mothership back in the skies, and we are thrilled to have VMS Eve rejoin spaceship Unity back home at Spaceport America. With our enhancement program complete and validation flights underway, we remain on track to launch commercial service in the second quarter of 2023."

Reacting to the report, Truist analysts reiterated a Sell rating and $3 price target on SPCE, telling investors that on the surface, SPCE management's "messaging around the Eve Mothership and return to spaceflight operations in 2Q23 was solid, but commentary on FCF was anything but."

"Cash burn in 2023 is likely to sustain its prior two qtr run rate implying a burn in excess of $500M. Additionally mgmt indicated that 2024 will now be the peak burn year implying two-year cash burn in excess of $1B against the co's total cash/security balance of $980M," wrote the analysts.

Wolfe Research analysts maintained a Peer Perform rating on the stock, stating in a note that "the reiteration of the 2Q23 start of commercial service should be a positive in the near-term, balancing out the obvious tension of elevated medium-term fcf burn."

"The cash burn continued in 4Q22 and was broadly in-line with expectations with a modest further ramp expected in 1Q23. We are less clear on when/what is peak burn-rate, but it sounds like '24 could be the peak year as new vehicle spend ramps," explained the analysts.

"The company reiterated a pause on its Imagine spaceship in favor of concentrating efforts on Unity and Delta, and, importantly, reiterated their commercial service timeline for commencement in 2Q23."

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-ma ... SI-3019060

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Investing.com -- Virgin Galactic soared in afterhours trading Thursday after the space tourism company detailed plans to launch its commercial space tourism service later this month.

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) was up 22% in afterhours following the news.

The first "Galactic 01," which will carry three crew members from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy, is planning to fly between June 27 and runs to June 30, the company said. A second flight is planned for early August followed by monthly flights, the company said.

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TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, New Mexico (Reuters) - A three-man crew from Italy is set on Thursday to board a passenger rocket plane operated by Virgin Galactic, the venture British billionaire Richard Branson founded in 2004, for the company's first commercial flight to the edge of space.

The two Italian air force officers and an aerospace engineer from the National Research Council of Italy were to join their Virgin Galactic instructor and the spaceplane's two pilots on a suborbital ride taking them about 50 miles (80 km) above the New Mexico desert.

The flight, dubbed Galactic 01, comes two years after Branson himself rode along with five other Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE:SPCE) Inc personnel for the company's first fully crewed test spaceflight of its rocket plane, VSS Unity.

Back then, Virgin Galactic officials said they expected to begin regular commercial operations in 2022 following additional test flights. But completion of the test campaign took longer than anticipated after federal regulators grounded the rocket plane for 11 weeks while the company was under investigation for deviating from its assigned airspace on ascent during the July 2021 flight. A final crewed test flight to space was conducted successfully but with less fanfare five weeks ago.

Virgin Galactic is one of a handful of private ventures, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, catering to wealthy would-be citizen astronauts willing to pay large sums of money to experience the exhilaration of supersonic rocket speed, weightlessness and the spectacle of spaceflight.

The mission of the Italian team flying on Thursday, however, was touted as a scientific one, with the three men planning to collect biometric data, measure cognitive performance and record how certain liquids and solids mix in microgravity conditions.

ITALIAN RESEARCH MISSION

For Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, the flight is also part of his astronaut training for a future mission to the International Space Station.

Joining him on Thursday are two Italian colleagues - Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolfi, a physician and flight surgeon, and Pantaleone Carlucci, a research council member acting as flight engineer and payload specialist.

Taking the fourth passenger seat is their Virgin Galactic trainer, Colin Bennett, who earned his astronaut wings on the July 2021 flight with Branson as the company's lead operations engineer. Unity will be operated by two Virgin Galactic pilots - retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Masucci and Nicola Pecile, who formerly held the same rank in the Italian air force.

Thursday's 90-minute flight profile is expected to follow the sequence Unity flew two years ago and again in May.

The gleaming white spaceplane was set to take off from Spaceport America, a state-owned facility near the New Mexico town of Truth of Consequences, attached to the underside of its dual-fuselage carrier jet, VMS Eve, named for Branson's late mother.

Reaching its high-altitude launch point at about 50,000 feet (9.5 miles/15.24 km), Unity is to be released from the mothership and fall away as the spaceplane's rocket is ignited, sending the vehicle streaking straight upward at supersonic speed to the blackness of space some 50-55 miles (80-89 km) high.

At the apex of its climb, the rocket shuts down and the crew experiences a few minutes of near weightlessness before the spaceplane shifts into re-entry mode to begin a gliding descent to a runway back at the spaceport.

If all goes smoothly, Unity would fly again in early August, with monthly flights thereafter, the company said.

Virgin Galactic had projected booking its first 1,000 paying customers, charging about $250,000 per seat, by the time commercial service opened. Corporate officials have said they envision eventually building a large enough fleet to accommodate 400 flights annually.

Demonstrating that rocket travel is safe for the public is key. An earlier prototype of Virgin Galactic's rocket plane crashed during a test flight over California's Mojave Desert in 2014, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another. Passengers are now required to sign a pre-flight waiver acknowledging the risks and lack of government regulation over space tourism.

Bragging rights over what is considered true spaceflight also has factored into the business.

NASA and the U.S. Air Force both define an astronaut as anyone who has flown to an altitude of 50 miles (80 km) or more.

Billionaire rival Jeff Bezos, whose astro-tourist venture Blue Origin has already flown several commercial passenger flights, has disparaged Virgin Galactic as falling short of a true spaceflight experience.

Unlike Unity, according to Bezos, Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard rocketship tops the 62-mile-high-mark (100 km), called the Karman line, set by an international aeronautics body as defining the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space.

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Virgin Galactic to launch second commercial space flight next month

(Reuters) - Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE:SPCE) said on Thursday that the space tourism startup will launch its second commercial flight in a window that opens next month after a successful first flight in June.

The firm is among the few U.S.-based space companies, along with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX, to cater to the burgeoning demand for commercial space operations and space travel.

Shares of the company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson rose about 3% in trading before the bell, after having gained 11% so far this year.

Details on crew, pilots and the flight manifest for the mission set to launch in a window opening on Aug. 10, will be released later, the company said.

A three-member crew of its first-mission 'Galactic-01' made the brief suborbital ride, marking a long-delayed breakthrough for the company, finally inaugurating commercial service after being fraught with development setbacks for nearly 20 years.

Virgin Galactic had earlier said it has already booked a backlog of some 800 customers, charging most from $250,000 to $450,000 per seat, and envisions eventually building a large enough fleet to accommodate more than one flight a day.

The 'Galactic-02' mission will also be live streamed on the company's website.