After its billionaire founder propelled himself to the edges of space, Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) is seeking to sell millions of dollars worth of stock.
According to a July 12 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Virgin Galactic is offering up to $500 million worth of stock for sale. On the same day, the company's stock value fell about 20%. The sale, if completed, would represent as much as four percent of Virgin's outstanding shares as of their most previous close, Reuters reported.
The stock sale came after the company not only flew founder Richard Branson and crew to space from its flight headquarters at Spaceport America in New Mexico, but also announced that it would be providing two free tickets to members of the public.
Sunday's flight was the first crewed flight by any space tourism organization, according to Barron's. He was accompanied by three other astronauts on the spaceplane's voyage that reached more than 50 miles above the earth's surface as part of the test flight. Astronauts Beth Moses, Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla joined Branson on the journey, along with those piloting a carrier aircraft.
Branson previously planned to join a commercial flight — the first of which could come in 2022 — but announced earlier this month that he would be embarking on last weekend's test run. The highly-publicized flight came just nine days before Amazon founder and fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos is set to launch into space as part of his own effort to bring people there.
Virgin Galactic went public in October 2019 as part of a deal with Silicon Valley holding company Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp., which gave the thumbs up for a merger and $700 million investment into the space company. The deal arose after plans for a $1 billion investment from Saudi Arabia into Virgin Galactic and two spinoff companies was suspended following the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Virgin Galactic said in an SEC filing last year that it had about 600 reservations and more than $80 million worth of deposits as of the end of 2020. The firm initially charged $250,000 for a seat and burned through lots of cash last year as it came nearer to its commercial debut.
During 2020, Virgin Galactic reported net losses of $273 million, roughly $62 million more than the year before. As part of the annual report, the company said that its losses "may be larger than anticipated" as it had not began commercial operations.
Virgin Galactic eventually wants to offer "400 flights per year per Spaceport," according to its website.
