Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft Unity fires its rocket engine and heads to space on Feb. 22, 2019.
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic stock jumped more than 20% in Thursday’s premarket after the space tourism company announced its next spaceflight test is targeting Saturday, following the completion of a maintenance review of its carrier aircraft.
The stock had been getting hit on concerns Virgin Galactic would delay the test from this month. A delay would have compounded issues that have put the stock under pressure in recent months, including increased competition from Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin.
“Following a detailed inspection and thorough analysis of our mothership, Eve, we have cleared our Spaceflight System for our upcoming flight,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement.
Shares of Virgin Galactic jumped about 22% in premarket trading from its previous close of $17.27.
Virgin Galactic’s carrier aircraft releases its spacecraft Unity during a glide flight test.
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic leadership, when the company reported first-quarter results last week, revealed that the target date for the next spaceflight test was under evaluation due to a possible maintenance issue with VMS Eve, the aircraft that carries the spacecraft before launch. The company said Thursday its engineering analysis determined the VMS Eve “structures healthy,” clearing the aircraft for flight.
The company is working to complete development of its SpaceShipTwo system, with four test flights remaining before Virgin Galactic begins commercial service in 2022.
Virgin Galactic attempted the first of those four tests in December, but the mission was cut short by an engine problem. The company scheduled a repeat of the flight attempt for February, but then delayed to May to give more time to address an electromagnetic interference issue with the spacecraft’s flight computer.
This upcoming spaceflight test will fly with just the two pilots and will carry microgravity research payloads under NASA’s Flight Opportunities program. In addition to resolving the issue that aborted the December attempt, Virgin Galactic said this flight test will further evaluate its customer cabin and test a livestream from onboard the spacecraft.
The company cautioned that Saturday’s attempt is dependent on final technical checks of the hardware and weather around Spaceport America in New Mexico.
