The Federal Aviation Administration has given Virgin Galactic the green light to launch commercial travelers into space.
Shares of Virgin Galactic, which was founded by British business magnate Richard Branson, soared upon the news on Friday morning and traded up as much as 20%. The company hailed the FAA’s decision to update its commercial space transportation operator license after it completed its first manned space flight in May.
“We’re incredibly pleased with the results of our most recent test flight, which achieved our stated flight test objectives,” said Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic. “Today’s approval by the FAA of our full commercial launch license, in conjunction with the success of our May 22 test flight, give us confidence as we proceed toward our first fully crewed test flight this summer.”
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The May test flight of VMS Eve and VSS Unity were Virgin Galactic’s third crewed spaceflight and the first-ever spaceflight from the company’s new home port in New Mexico. The flight traveled to space at an altitude of more than 55 miles (the United States views the boundary of space to be 50 miles) and traveled at speeds of Mach 3.
The Friday news from the FAA is sure to fuel the competition to develop commercial spaceflight for the space tourism industry. Virgin Galactic’s Unity space plane is designed to hold up to six passengers and two pilots and is launched from the carrier aircraft Eve. The company has some 600 travel reservations for future flights, which have fetched up to $250,000 each.
Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin is also planning to send people to the edge of space for the first time in July, with one seat being offered to the highest bidder. Bezos is planning to be among those on the flight, in which they will spend several minutes some 60 miles above the Earth’s surface, experience weightlessness, and return to the ground.
SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, a fellow billionaire with Bezos and Branson, also plans to send the first all-civilian crew aboard the Dragon spacecraft on its Inspiration4 mission. That is expected to occur in September. The four crew members will orbit Earth for three days as part of the mission.
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SpaceX completed its first operational and successful manned flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft in May. The mission lasted 167 days before returning to the Earth’s surface.
