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Virgin Galactic said it would cut jobs and expenses to focus on producing its lower-cost Delta spaceships.
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Commercial space-flight operator Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. on Tuesday said it would cut staff in an effort to focus on developing its new class of Delta spacecraft that are expected to cost less and bring more profit.
Management, in an email to employees, did not offer specific figures on the cuts, while citing a shaky investing environment as part of the reason for them. The message said the company would offer more details during its third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.
Virgin Galactic
SPCE,
when reached on Tuesday, declined to offer additional information. Executives over the summer said they expected commercial service for Delta ships to begin in 2026, after testing in 2025.
Shares were little changed after hours on Tuesday. The stock has fallen 50.4% so far this year.
The cuts follow a handful of space flights this year from Virgin Galactic, which was founded by billionaire Richard Branson. But Chief Executive Michael Colglazier, in the email, said that following successes from the spaceship Unity and its carrier mothership, Eve, the company needed to “reduce our reliance on unpredictable capital markets.”
“To profitably scale our business, we must first invest upfront capital to create a fleet of ships based on a standardized production model — the Delta Class ships,” Colglazier said in the email.
He added that “uncertainty has grown in the capital markets,” with higher interest rates pressuring borrowing and “geopolitical unrest” making for a more cautious environment. He said the Delta spacecraft played a key role in expanding flight service and profitability, and that it was crucial to focus on bringing them into service.
“Interest rates remain high, which adds pressure to companies who are investing today for profits that will come in the future,” he said. “Geopolitical unrest continues to expand, and the combination of these factors makes near-term access to capital much less favorable.”
“The Delta ships are powerful economic engines,” he continued. “To bring them into service, we need to extend our strong financial position and reduce our reliance on unpredictable capital markets. We will accomplish this, but it requires us to redirect our resources toward the Delta ships while streamlining and reducing our work outside of the Delta program.”
He said employees would be notified of their job status between Tuesday and Thursday. Employees will be working from home for the rest of the week, Colglazier said, adding that on-site work locations would be unavailable through that time.
“Delta ships have been designed to have a relatively low unit-production cost and have a material improvement flight cadence relative to our initial ship, VSS Unity,” Colglazier said on Virgin Galactic’s earnings call in August.
“The Delta development process has yielded some excellent enhancements to the ship’s architecture, particularly with regard to manufacturability and maintainability,” he said. “And we are tracking well against our primary ship-performance criteria.”
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https://www.barrons.com/articles/virgin-galactic-stock-price-space-flight-d6f730d1
Virgin Galactic
shares were up more than 40% in premarket trading Friday after the company announced its first commercial flight into space.
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Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings on Thursday made a scorching run higher after the space-travel company said it plans to begin offering commercial flights into space near the end of this month, a significant breakthrough for the nearly 20-year-old company founded by Richard Branson.
Shares rocketed 44% after hours on the news.
“We’re opening…
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SpaceX scrubbed the eagerly anticipated test launch of its giant Starship rocket minutes before blastoff Monday.
The launch from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, would have been the first flight test to integrate SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy rockets. The largest rocket ever built, Starship is designed to play a key role in returning humans to the Moon, as well as in future Mars exploration.
SpaceX scrubbed the uncrewed launch attempt about nine minutes before blastoff, apparently because of an issue related to its stage 1 rocket.
“A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today,” tweeted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Related: Elon Musk’s SpaceX pulls another $1.7 billion in funding
“Standing down from today’s flight test attempt; team is working towards next available opportunity,” SpaceX tweeted.
When it scrubbed the launch, SpaceX transitioned to a “wet dress rehearsal,” continuing to load propellant. SpaceX also continued its countdown to T-minus 40 seconds.
“Learned a lot today, now offloading propellant, retrying in a few days,” tweeted Musk.
“Unfortunately, due to needing to recycle the propellant, we’re looking at a minimum of 48 hours until we are able to attempt this flight test again,” said Kate Tice, SpaceX’s quality systems engineering manager, during the launch livestream.
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