Boeing Takes a $20 Million Liking to Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic has already invested $1 billion of capital towards building reusable human spaceflight systems designed to enable more people to experience space. Boeing now wants a piece of the pie.

KEY POINTS

• Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, is in the final stretch of testing, with CEO George Whitesides saying the company “still feels good about going into operation next year.”
• Virgin Galactic is planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange later this year, through a merger announced in July with Social Capital Hedosophia.
• When Virgin Galactic does go public, Boeing’s venture arm, HorizonX, will take a $20 million minority stake in the company.
• Boeing and Virgin Galactic will work together to broaden commercial space access and transform global travel technologies.

In July, Virgin Galactic announced its intent to become a publicly-listed entity via a business combination with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. (“SCH”) is a partnership between the investment firms of Social Capital and Hedosophia.

Boeing has just announced its commitment to spend $20 Million dollars to acquire a minority stake in Virgin Galactic once it has listed. This investment from Boeing brings together two companies with extensive experience in the space industry.

Virgin Galactic is a pioneer of commercial human space flight and is the first and only company to have put humans into space in a vehicle built for commercial service, having built and flown a Mach 3 passenger vehicle. Through its manufacturing and development capabilities, Virgin Galactic can design, build, test, and operate a fleet of advanced aerospace vehicles.

Boeing has unsurpassed experience transporting people to orbit and building and operating large structures in that challenging environment. A part of every U.S. manned space program, Boeing serves as NASA’s prime contractor for the International Space Station (ISS) and is preparing the new, reusable, Starliner space capsule for launch to the ISS.

What Boeing says

“Boeing’s strategic investment facilitates our effort to drive the commercialization of space and broaden consumer access to safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible new forms of transportation,” said Brian Schettler, senior managing director of Boeing HorizonX Ventures. “Our work with Virgin Galactic, and others, will help unlock the future of space travel and high-speed mobility.”

What Sir Richard Branson says

“This is the beginning of an important collaboration for the future of air and space travel, which are the natural next steps for our human spaceflight program,” said Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic. “Virgin Galactic and Boeing share a vision of opening access to the world and space, to more people, in safe and environmentally responsible ways.”

What the Virgin Galactic CEO says

George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic, noted: “we are excited to partner with Boeing to develop something that can truly change how people move around the planet and connect with one another. As a Virgin company, our focus will be on a safe and unparalleled customer experience, with environmental responsibility to the fore.”