Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic delay planned flight

258
3
Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic delay planned flight

Shares of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic plunged as much as 20% in pre-market trading Friday after the aerospace company announced schedule changes that will delay its commercial spaceflights until the fourth quarter of 2022.

After being cleared to take off at the end of the month following the conclusion of a Federal Aviation Administration investigation into Virgin Galactic's Unity 22 Test flight in July, the company said its Unity 23 mission would target a flight window in mid-October.

The mission, which will carry members of the Italian Air Force and focus on microgravity research and professional astronaut training experience, is now pushed back while the company conducts a previously issued enhancement period for its VSS Unity spaceplane and VMS Eve mothership, designed to improve vehicle performance and flight-rate capability, as well as new physical inspections after a test flagged a possible reduction in the strength margins of certain materials used to modify specific joints. Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier told analysts on the company's 2nd quarter earnings call in August that the enhancements, subject to testing and verification, could reduce Unity's turnaround flight time to four to five weeks, down from the current rate of seven to eight weeks, and possibly allow VMS Eve to fly 100 flights between major maintenance inspections, compared with the present interval of 10 flights. Colglazier had indicated at the time that the enhancement period would likely conclude sometime in mid-2022.

Following the enhancement period, Virgin Galactic will conduct its Unity 23, Unity 24 and Unity 25 missions, the latter of which is the start of private services with Government astronauts.

Our decisions are based on detailed and comprehensive analysis, and we fly based on the most accurate and comprehensive data available. Virgin Galactic vehicles are designed with significant margins for safety, providing layers of protection that far exceed loads experienced and expected to happen on our flights, Colglazier said in a statement Friday. The resequencing of our enhancement period and Unity 23 flight underscores our safety-first procedures, provides the most efficient path to commercial service, and is the right approach for both our business and our customers. The scheduling changes are unrelated to a recent probe into a potential defect in a supplier component announced last month, which Virgin Galactic says has since been resolved.

Although the supplied component in question was not on either VMS Eve or VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic completed detailed inspections and scans carried out in accordance with safety protocols which found all components met quality and safety standards and were ready for flight, the company said.

Virgin Galactic is currently selling tickets for upcoming spaceflights for $450,000 apiece. The company plans to offer a range of product offerings for private astronaut flights, including a single-seat option, a multi-seat, couples, families, and friends package and a full-flight buyout. The company plans to charge $300,000 per seat on its future microgravity research and professional astronaut training flights.