Virgin Galactic Carries First Tourists to the Edge of Space

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) carried its first private tourists to the edge of space, a long-awaited milestone in founder Richard Branson’s quest to build a “spaceline for Earth.”

The VSS Unity craft reached space shortly before 9:30 a.m. local time Thursday, Virgin Galactic said on a livestream of the event, roughly an hour after it took off from a New Mexico spaceport. The tourist mission, which offered passengers several minutes of weightlessness before descending back to solid ground, was the company’s second commercial flight following a recent research operation.

Virgin Galactic’s shares rose 1.8% to $3.44 as of 11:27 a.m. in New York, paring an earlier gain of as much as 3.8%. The stock was down nearly 3% this year through Wednesday and remains well below the highs of more than $55 in 2021. It was publicly listed through a reverse merger with Social Capital Hedosophia Acquisition Corp. in 2019.

Trump-Tied SPAC Climbs as Merger Partners Extend Pact Timing

The blank-check firm struggling to take Donald Trump’s social media company public rallied in premarket trading after the two companies reached an agreement that pushes back one impediment to the deal reaching completion. Others still loom.

The SPAC, Digital World Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:DWAC), and Trump Media & Technology Group said they extended the deadline for their dual commitment to the merger — known as the outside date — until Dec. 31, according to a filing Wednesday.

That could give the parties almost four extra months to solidify the pact after Trump Media had previously signaled it didn’t believe it was bound to keep negotiating beyond a Sept. 8 deadline, according to filings.

READ