What happened
Shares of Virgin Galactic (SPCE -5.47%) jumped 5% as of 11:05 a.m. EDT today -- but the reason doesn't seem to have much to do with the space company itself this time.
Instead, it's all about Blue Origin.
Image source: Virgin Galactic.
So what
Over at Virgin Galactic's biggest rival in space tourism, bidding on a ticket for the first commercial flight of Blue Origin's New Shepard space rocket is hitting a fever pitch. Blue just tweeted out a reminder that all registrations to participate in its June 12 auction of the ticket must be in by today:
Auction registration closes today at 5:00 p.m. EDT / 21:00 UTC for the very first seat on #NewShepard. The winning bidder will fly to space on July 20th with Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark. Visit https://t.co/7Y4The9OmR to register. pic.twitter.com/XP6nRhlOT8
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) June 10, 2021
And even before the auction reaches its final stage, the floor bid on this ticket has reached $4 million.
Now what
Why does that matter to Virgin Galactic investors -- especially if its own CEO, Richard Branson, is planning to beat Jeff Bezos into space, and fly on an upcoming Virgin Galactic test flight July 4 weekend? Probably, the answer is as simple as this:
Blue Origin is doing its level best to get people excited about space tourism. If it succeeds (and the $4 million bid price suggests that it is succeeding), that's good news not only for Blue Origin, but for Virgin Galactic stock, too.
