Shares of Virgin Galactic (SPCE) soars in pre-market trading after the company announced that it will be test launching SpaceShipTwo on Saturday.
The business is attempting to finish construction of its SpaceShipTwo system, with four test flights remaining before Virgin Galactic launches commercial service in 2023.
Following a detailed inspection and thorough analysis of our mothership, Eve, we have cleared our Spaceflight System for our upcoming flight,
Virgin Galactic, CEO Michael Colglazier
In December, Virgin Galactic conducted the first of four spaceflight experiments, but the trip was cut short due to an engine malfunction. The corporation had planned to repeat the flying attempt in February, but then pushed it out to May to provide more time to resolve an electromagnetic interference problem with the spacecraft’s flight computer.
This future spaceflight test will fly with only two pilots aboard, but it will also carry microgravity research payloads as part of NASA’s Flight Opportunities program. In addition to correcting the issue that caused the December attempt to be cut short, Virgin Galactic stated that this next test will further examine its customer cabin and try a livestream from aboard the ship.
The spaceflight attempt on Saturday is contingent on final technical inspections of the hardware and weather surrounding Spaceport America in New Mexico, according to the corporation.
