#FAA clears Virgin Galactic to fly passengers to space

Virgin Galactic announced Friday that the Federal Aviation Administration cleared the company to fly passengers to space, a major step toward the launch of commercial operations.

The regulatory move could set the stage for Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson to try to beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Blue Origin, to space.

“Today’s approval by the FAA of our full commercial launch license, in conjunction with the success of our May 22 test flight, give us confidence as we proceed toward our first fully crewed test flight this summer,” Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said in a statement.

Virgin Galactic has held a launch license from the FAA since 2016 that allows the Richard Branson-owned company to conduct spaceflights.

But the expansion of the license now clears the space tourism company to fly customers on its rockets. It’s the first time the FAA has licensed a spaceline to fly customers, the company said.

Virgin Galactic hasn’t announced when its next spaceflight will be, but there’s speculation the company will try to launch Branson to space before Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos makes his trip to the edge of space on July 20.

Virgin Galactic previously announced its next spaceflight would carry four passengers, while the next after that would carry Branson.

But the space blog Parabolic Arc reported earlier this month that Virgin Galactic wants to send Branson, who has a net worth of about $6.9 billion, up on a test flight of its VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane over the July 4 weekend.

Both men are jockeying for the title of the first tycoon to make it to space. SpaceX founder Elon Musk hasn’t yet announced any intent to fly to space this summer.

Virgin Galactic’s new FAA license, though, could move Branson closer to reaching space and pave the way for his heist of Bezos’ plans.

Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft is designed to hold up to six passengers and two pilots. The company says it has about 600 reservations for future flights, sold at prices between $200,000 and $250,000 each.

The news of Virgin Galactic’s license expansion propelled shares of the company more than 20 percent in premarket trading Friday, with the stock trading as high as $48.60 per share.

The company’s stock has struggled this year after it saw delays in testing that threatened to push back its launch of commercial operations. The stock stood above $60 per share as recently as February before collapsing to nearly $15 per share last month.

CEO Colglazier said Friday that its post-launch analysis of its May 22 test flight “performed flawlessly, and the results demonstrate the safety and elegance of our flight system.”

That was the company’s third test flight and first from its homeport in New Mexico — dubbed Spaceport America.