Not Virgins Anymore: Richard Branson's Space Company Launches Tourists Into Space For First Time

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc SPCE launched tourists into orbit for the first time ever Thursday in the company’s seventh spaceflight. The flight, called Galactic 02, launched from New Mexico’s Spaceport around 11:30 a.m. ET according to a post from the company on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. 

The passengers on the flight, the first private customers to travel into orbit through Virgin Galactic, include former Olympian Jon Goodwin and a mother-daughter pair, Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers from Antigua and Barbuda, who won their tickets through a lottery from a fundraiser for Space for Humanity. 

Goodwin was one of Virgin Galactic’s first customers, purchasing his ticket for the flight in 2005. Goodwin, now 80 and living with Parkinson’s disease, said he hopes he can be an inspiration to others, according to AP. He was the first Olympian in space.

Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic and billionaire business magnate, celebrated the launch with his own post on X.

Branson and three other employees were the first to ride on one of Virgin Galactic’s flights into orbit in 2021. Unlike traditional space shuttles, the Virgin Galactic flights do not venture far out into space, and instead barely break past the earth’s atmosphere.

According to NASA, "outer space" begins at about 50 miles above Earth, and Thursday’s Virgin Galactic flight planned to reach a maximum altitude of 55 miles. 

SPCE Price Action: Virgin Galactic’s stock traded higher Thursday morning before reversing and dipping slightly in the red.

The stock has not participated in 2023’s overall market rally, currently trading down about 3% YTD versus the S&P 500’s gain of more than 17% in the same time period. 

Photo: Courtesy Virgin Galactic