Ground Control To Virgin Galactic: Why Shares Are Falling Today

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc SPCE is continuing to trade lower Friday following a report that the Federal Aviation Administration grounded Virgin Galactic on Thursday, pending an investigation of the company’s previous spaceflight.

“Virgin Galactic may not return the SpaceShipTwo vehicle to flight until the FAA approves the final mishap investigation report or determines the issues related to the mishap do not affect public safety,” the FAA said in a statement to CNBC.

The FAA determined that Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity "deviated from its Air Traffic Control clearance" during the spaceflight. 

The New Yorker was the first to report that issues occurred during the flight. Virgin Galactic has disputed “the misleading characterizations and conclusions in the New Yorker article," according to CNBC. 

SPCE Price Action: Virgin Galactic has traded as high as $62.80 and as low as $14.27 over a 52-week period.

The stock was down 6.06% at $24.41 per share at time of publication.

Photo: courtesy of Virgin Galactic.