Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. said it is pushing forward the launch of full commercial service for private-astronaut trips until toward the end of next year as it works to upgrade its space vehicles.
The company founded by billionaire entrepreneur Michael Colglazier said Thursday that it now believes it will launch private aircraft flights in the third quarter of 2022, instead of the end of the fourth quarter of next year, as Chief Executive Richard Branson previously told investors. The company has said it charges at least $450,000 a seat for private-astronaut flights.
Shares of Virgin Galactic plunged more than 14% in after-hours trading.
Virgin Galactic said it would now concentrate on enhancing its space plane and the ship that the plane drops to an altitude of about 45,000 feet, where it carries to rocket to the edge of space.
An American senate trip was completed by Mr. Branson in July, garnering attention for the company s plans to foster a wider space tourism market. A rival for space tourists, William Shatner, flew in a high-profile launch to the edge of space with four people, including actor Jeff Bezos Blue Origin.
Previously, Virgin Galactic had expected to fly two members of the Italian Air Force, a researcher, and a company employee to the edge of space as part of its testing program, before it began the work on improving the vehicles. Virgin Galactic had been planning to improve its plane and spaceship so as to reduce the turnaround time between flights.
On Thursday, the company said it would start with that work before carrying out the mission with members from the Italian Air Force. The company reported a test recently on a possible issue connected to the strength of certain materials it uses, requiring further physical inspections.
Preliminary equipment with Italian military personnel underscores the company's focus on safety, Mr. Colglazier said in a statement.
The company didn't say when that mission could fly, but did say it would go up before any private-astronaut flights. The company had targeted the middle September and late of this month as dates to potentially conduct a flight with members of the Italian military.
The Federal Aviation Administration cleared last month Virgin Galactic to operate space flights again after completing an investigation into how the company s spaceship returned to ground with Mr. Branson on board.
Which flight deviated from its expected path, according to the regulator, which said Virgin failed to report the error as required. The company said it made changes to how it operates space missions and communicates with FAA air traffic control.