By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) stock slumped over 14% in Monday’s trading as the company’s plans for a $500 million sale of new shares spooked traders.
The shares were up 10% premarket but gave up all those gains as the company looks to cash in on the successful launch Sunday of its first-ever full crew spaceflight that also included its founder Richard Branson.
Although the V.S.S. Unity had made space trips earlier as well, this was its first flight with six passengers, including Branson, ahead of a planned commercial launch next year. Two more test flights have to happen before that. This was the fourth so far.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the company has collected $80 million in deposits from sale of tickets for a space ride. Each ticket is going for anywhere between $200,000 and $250,000, according to various reports.
Those on the company’s wait list include Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who otherwise has his own space flight ambitions, being pursued through his company SpaceX.
The flight marks a milestone for the space tourism industry that is still in its infancy. Branson beat Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos in the race of billionaires to go into space. Bezos has flight aboard Blue Origin scheduled for July 20.