Virgin Galactic (SPCE 17.49%) aims to create an entirely new form of entertainment for well-heeled tourists: Space tourism.
It's already shaken up the stock market, more than quadrupling its share price in the past three months. Yesterday, Virgin Galactic was even one of only a handful of stocks not to suffer dramatic declines in the midst of the coronavirus scare, actually rising 1.2%.
Image source: Virgin Galactic.
And now, Virgin Galactic is getting ready to start the next phase of its growth.
On Tuesday, right after reporting earnings (or rather, a lack thereof) for its fiscal fourth quarter, Virgin Galactic announced a new "One Small Step" initiative. Since halting ticket sales for flights aboard its SpaceShipTwo spaceplane in December 2018, with "more than 600 firm reservations" in hand, Virgin hasn't sold a single new ticket -- of its own volition. It has, however, collected 7,957 online reservation registrations from persons interested in flying to space.
Under One Small Step, the company intends to restart ticket sales. As a first step, beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, February 26, Virgin Galactic will permit "future flyers" to pay a $1,000 refundable deposit to register to buy a ticket, "and be front of line for firm seat reservations, once they become available."
Mind you, Virgin Galactic didn't say when those tickets will actually become available, nor when, once a ticket is purchased, a flyer might actually fly. For that matter ... Virgin Galactic also didn't say how much tickets will cost. (But you can be certain it will be more than the $1,000 deposit, and probably closer to $250,000).
None of the above has scared off customers (or investors) before, however. It probably won't this time, either.
