(News Bulletin 247) – The space tourism group has already raised $300 million and still intends to appeal to the market for $400 million, according to stock market documents. In view of the dilution to come, the action is suffering on Wall Street.

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic has raised $300 million since the start of the year and plans to issue shares to raise another $400 million, according to a document released Thursday by the US market regulator, the SEC.

The announcement was very badly received by investors, because it means that the value of existing shares will be greatly diluted by the operation. The market capitalization of Virgin Galactic reached, in fact, only 1.5 billion dollars on Thursday at the close.

In electronic trading after the closing of Wall Street, the title dropped nearly 10%, after having already lost 6.83% in the single session on Thursday.

Virgin Galactic’s space program suffered years of delays, including a 2014 crash that killed a pilot. Then, after the space flight that transported its founder, the Briton Richard Branson, in July 2021, the company announced a break, dedicated to improving its machine. This lasted much longer than originally planned.

First commercial flight scheduled in a few days

A Virgin Galactic spacecraft reached space in late May for the first time in nearly two years, in a final test before the start of commercial operations.

A first commercial flight is scheduled for June 27, followed by another in August. The company hopes to adopt a monthly cadence thereafter.

It offers passengers to spend a few minutes in space, before coming back down to earth, for 450,000 dollars per mission per person.

The Californian company plans to devote the funds raised “to the development of its fleet of vessels and infrastructures to increase its commercial flight capacities”, as well as to strengthen its financial reserves, according to the document published by the SEC.

(With AFP)