Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) disclosed details about customer demand during a quarterly call on Tuesday, one week after opening flight reservations to the general public at a price of $450,000.
“Demand through our direct sales channel is strong,” Michael Colglazier, Virgin Galactic CEO, told investors during the Q4 call. To date, the total amount of spaceflight reservations stands at about 750.
However, “following the closure of our first [1,000 flight reservations] we will build a highly-qualified reservation pipeline of future customers through a priority list with a $10,000 deposit required to join,” Colglazier said. He added that Virgin Galactic is “on track and on schedule” to begin commercial service in the fourth quarter of 2022. Spaceflights are set to launch from Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences.
In October, the Las Cruces company delayed the highly-anticipated launch window as it shifted its focus to vehicle improvements. Virgin Galactic is also looking to roll out its new “Delta” line of spaceships with a turnaround time of one week between flights. In contrast, the VSS Unity vehicle, which launched Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson into the sky this past July, can fly once per month. The Delta spaceships are expected to be in service by late 2025 while its VSS Unity and VSS Imagine vehicles are expected to enter commercial service in 2022 and 2023.
The company opened a “new engineering, design and corporate headquarters, which will serve as the primary hub for R&D and the development of both the Delta class spaceship and the next generation [carrier aircraft],” according to the Q4 earnings release.
On Tuesday’s call, Colglazier said Virgin Galactic is also “progressing designs and choice of locations for a new final assembly facility for our spaceships. We expect this final assembly facility to be operational in late 2023, and it will eventually employ hundreds of technicians and engineers.”
“As our final assembly facility ramps up operations, we expect it will be capable of cost-effectively producing up to six spaceships per year,” Colglazier said. “We expect that this will enable a rapid increase of flight capacity that will fully utilize Spaceport America and allow for fast expansion to additional spaceports.”
In the past, Virgin Galactic has stated its plans to create a "multi-year effort that targets flying 400 flights per year, per spaceport," according to a release from March 2021.
The company reported a net loss of $81 million in the fourth quarter of 2021for a total net loss of $353 million in the 2021 fiscal year. At the close of the market on Tuesday, prior to the quarterly call, Virgin Galactic's stock price stood at $7.82 per share, down from almost $56 in June 2021.
