Virgin Galactic set to sell $500m worth of stock after Branson's successful flight
Virgin Galactic on Monday filed to sell up to $500m worth in stock after a successful commercial spaceflight with founder Richard Branson onboard.
In a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, the company stated: "We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale by us of the securities to which this prospectus supplement relates for general corporate purposes, including working capital, general and administrative matters and capital expenditures for our manufacturing capabilities, development of our spaceship fleet and other infrastructure improvements" according to the filing."
Shares in the firm were down by 12.15% to $43.19 as of 1553 BST in response to the news.
Virgin Galactic reached a major milestone at the weekend in the race to launch commercial space trips by 2022 by successfully completing a test flight into suborbital space.
The company already had about 600 reservations for tickets on future flights, sold at prices between $200,000 and $250,000 each.
Branson was in a dead heat with Jeff Bezos, founder of space company Blue Origin, which was also planning to start commercial space flights soon.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin's first crewed spaceflight, in which the founder was also expected to climb aboard, was scheduled for 20 July.
Swiss investment bank, UBS, estimated the potential value of the space tourism market reaching $3bn annually by 2030.