Business

Richard Branson’s Space Tourism Endeavor Is Preparing To Go Public

(REUTERS/Luke MacGregor)

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Sarah Price Contributor
Font Size:

Virgin Galactic, English billionaire Richard Branson’s space-tourism endeavor, is almost ready for takeoff, the company announced.

It is set to be the world’s first publicly traded commercial spaceline, and will be available to investors within the second half of 2019, Virgin Galactic said in a news release Monday.

Virgin Galactic “has developed a set of unique technologies designed to enable a safe and familiar flying experience for customers to go into space and become officially designated astronauts,” according to the release.

Acquisition companies are already eyeing the company as a profitable investment opportunity, and since its founding in 2004, Virgin Galactic has raised over $1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The 600 people come from 60 countries across the globe, and all have reserved spots on space carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo and spacecraft SpaceShipTwo, Virgin Galactic said in the news release.

The company has worked to overcome a deadly crash that backtracked the company in 2014, according to The WSJ. (RELATED: Virgin Galactic Returning To Space 1st Time After Deadly Crash)

Virgin Galactic is not the only space-tourism entrepreneur company. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX are competing in the industry as well.

“We are at the dawn of a new space age, with huge potential to improve and sustain life on Earth,” Branson said in the release.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.