On a colossal win announced Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Virgin Galactic the license it needs to fly commercial passengers to space. The company cleared the final two FAA milestones, testing the spacecraft’s flight control and inertial navigation systems, with its test spaceflight last month. The win was accompanied by a 38.9% jump in Virgin Galactic’s stock to $55.91, its largest ever rise in a single trading day.
Virgin Galactic’s Unity spacecraft is designed to carry up to six passengers along with two pilots. The company currently has around 600 reservations for future flights, with each ticket sold for between $200,000 and $250,000. However, customer flights are not far off; Virgin Galactic has just three more spaceflight tests planned before it completes development. And according to CEO Michael Colglazier, the FAA approval means “the flight test program shifts now” to demonstrating “the cabin experience” of the spacecraft.
