What happened
The era of commercial spaceflight services has officially started for Virgin Galactic (SPCE 3.15%), according to an official press release yesterday afternoon. And this has the market very excited today, considering Virgin Galactic stock was up 30% as of 9:50 a.m. ET.
So what
To be clear, Virgin Galactic has flown before. For example, billionaire Sir Richard Branson flew to space aboard one of the company's spacecrafts in 2021.
Moreover, demand for Virgin Galactic's spaceflights has been strong, considering the company had over $100 million in customer deposits as of the first quarter of 2023. However, Virgin Galactic hadn't been ready to start commercial flights until now, and that's why the market is excited about this space stock today.
According to management, Virgin Galactic's first commercial flight, Galactic 01, is slated to fly between June 27 and June 30. Its passengers will be Italian scientists and military personnel researching microgravity.
The Galactic 02 flight is scheduled for early August and will be for private astronauts -- people like Branson, who will fly for the experience. From there, Virgin Galactic expects to have monthly spaceflights.
Now what
On one hand, Virgin Galactic's press release wasn't all that revolutionary. In Q1, management had said that it already expected to launch its first commercial flight in June. So it's right on schedule.
On the other hand, it's been a long road for Virgin Galactic shareholders to reach this point. For example, when the company went public in 2019, it expected to do 16 commercial flights in 2020. In other words, the start of commercial spaceflights has felt close for a long time, but the timetable has often been pushed back.
Now, Virgin Galactic is just two weeks away from reaching this important milestone. So I can appreciate the market's enthusiasm.
