Virgin Galactic pilots head for the company’s SpaceShipTwo Unity spacecraft attached to Eve’s aircraft carrier.
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic shares have risen as a notification from the Federal Aviation Administration indicated that the company’s next space flight test is about to be launched as early as Saturday.
An FAA notice posted Thursday said airspace around Virgin Galactic’s base of operations at Spaceport America in New Mexico will be restricted to space operations from Saturday at 9 a.m. ET until Sunday at 6 p.m.
A Virgin Galactic spokesman confirmed to CNBC that the company is “making good progress in our flight preparations,” noting that the flight test is awaiting weather and technical training.
Virgin Galactic shares rose up 9% in trading from a previous close of $ 52.39 per share.
The space flight test will be a remake of the December test that the company interrupted in the middle of the launch. Virgin Galactic spent two months analyzing the cause of the abortion and performing ground tests, with the test flight set to verify “remedial work that has been completed.”
While only two pilots will be on board, the flight is expected to be the first of three in a series as the company tries to complete the development of its spacecraft system.
Virgin Galactic will focus on each of the initial objectives of the December flight test, “including assessing the elements of the customer’s cabin, testing the live flow capacity of the spacecraft on the ground and evaluating updated horizontal stabilizers and flight controls during the flight phase pulse”. said the company.
After the flight test, Virgin Galactic said it would “complete an extensive data analysis” to “inform the next steps in the test flight schedule.”
Shares have doubled since the beginning of 2021, a move that earlier this week prompted UBS to downgrade its share to neutral. UBS said in a note to customers that “we are paying attention to the assessment that seems complete”, even if future test flights create an attractive “catalyst chain”.
Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive statistics and analysis, and live scheduling on weekdays around the world.