Virgin Galactic completes final Unity flight, sets sights on new Delta spacecraft

By James Rogers

Virgin Galactic's new Delta-class spacecraft is expected to enter commercial service in 2026.

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. successfully completed the final commercial flight of the space tourism company's Unity spacecraft Saturday, marking an important milestone for the firm.

The Richard Branson-founded spaceflight company will now halt commercial operations to develop its new Delta-class spacecraft, which is expected to enter commercial service in 2026.

The Galactic 07 mission also marked Virgin Galactic's 12th mission to date and its second spaceflight in 2024. The flight was also Virgin Galactic's seventh research mission.

Related: Virgin Galactic's stock climbs ahead of final Unity spacecraft mission

Galactic 07 took off from Virgin Galactic's Spaceport America in New Mexico at 10:31 am Eastern Time. The VSS Unity spacecraft carrying an astronaut researcher and three private astronauts was released from the VMS Eve mothership at an altitude of 44,562 feet and reached space shortly after. Galactic 07's apogee, or the pinnacle of spaceflight altitude, was 54.4 miles.

Unity returned to Spaceport America at 11:41 am Eastern Time. The three private astronauts were Anand "Andy" Harish Sadhwani of California, Irving Izchak Pergament of New York, and Giorgio Manenti of Italy, Virgin Galactic said, in a statement.

Astronaut researcher Tuva Cihangir Atasever, who is affiliated with Axiom Space, used the mission to conduct suborbital testing of insulin pens. He also wore custom headgear with brain activity monitoring sensors to collect physiological data related to human spaceflight, according to Virgin Galactic.

Related: Virgin Galactic's better-than-expected cash burn a positive sign, says KeyBanc

Unlike the Unity spacecraft, which has four seats for paying passengers and can make a single spaceflight per month, the Delta spacecraft will have six passenger seats and will be capable of making up to eight spaceflights a month. Delta tickets will be priced at $600,000, compared with the current ticket price of $450,000.

When Virgin Galactic reported its fiscal first-quarter results last month, the company said that the Delta class production schedule remains on track for revenue service in 2026.

Virgin Galactic shares ended Friday's session up 2.1%. The stock is down 65.5% in 2024, compared with the S&P 500 index's SPX gain of 12.1%.

-James Rogers

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-08-24 1419ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.