Virgin Galactic shares pop as firm plans to redo spaceflight check as early as Feb. 13

Virgin Galactic is making ready for its subsequent spaceflight try, with the corporate saying on Monday that it’s going to redo its aborted December flight check as early as Feb. 13.

The house tourism firm stated one of many spaceflight checks’ key aims “can be to check the remedial work that has been accomplished since … the onboard pc halted ignition of the rocket motor.”

“The staff has since carried out the basis trigger evaluation, accomplished the corrective work required, and carried out intensive floor testing. The subsequent stage can be to evaluate and confirm this work throughout a rocket-powered flight,” Virgin Galactic stated in a press launch.

Shares of Virgin Galactic rose as a lot as 9% in Monday’s premarket buying and selling from its earlier shut. The acquire got here regardless of a downgrade by Morgan Stanley on Monday to equal weight from chubby. In a notice to shoppers, analyst Adam Jonas stated the inventory worth almost doubled within the final month.

Virgin Galactic will even be aiming for every of the unique aims of the December flight try, “together with evaluating components of the shopper cabin, testing the dwell stream functionality from the spaceship to the bottom, and assessing the upgraded horizontal stabilizers and flight controls throughout the enhance part of the flight,” the corporate stated.

After the flight check, Virgin Galactic stated it can “full an in depth information evaluate” to “inform the subsequent steps within the check flight program.” Previous to the aborted December flight, Virgin Galactic had anticipated to conduct three remaining spaceflight checks earlier than it started industrial flights. The second and third spaceflight checks had been beforehand deliberate for the primary quarter of 2021.

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