INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The race to become the first publicly traded company dedicated to human spaceflight is over, and Virgin Galactic has won.The company will be
listing its shares on the New York Stock Exchange through a minority acquisition made by Social Capital Hedosophia, the special purpose
acquisition company created by former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya as part of his exploration of alternative strategies to
launches for conducting experiments and taking tourists up to space
commercial and government launch contracts (and a lunar lander).Virgin Galactic was initially in discussions with the kingdom of Saudi
make an investment within a two-year time frame or be wound down.Likely, the Virgin Galactic business made a tempting target
The company already has roughly $80 million in commitments from people around the world willing to pay $250,000 for the privilege of a
suborbital trip to the exosphere.Virgin Galactic launched as a business in 2004, two years after SpaceX made its first fledgling steps
toward creating a private space industry, and was the first company to focus on space tourism and launching small satellites into orbit
companies, Virgin Galactic was a pet project of the billionaire behind it, with the Journal estimating that Branson has put nearly $1
Palihapitiya is taking a $100 million investment into the company too
In return, the vehicle will own roughly 49% of the spaceflight business as it trades on the open market.
