Virgin Galactic to become the world’s first publicly traded space tourism company

It’s not often that the dull, dry world of financial news hits the headlines of a space blog. But Sir Richard Branson’s announcement that he has agreed an $800 million deal to take his Virgin Galactic company public could be a game changer.

The news broke on Tuesday July 12th, and if it comes off, Virgin Galactic will be the world’s first space tourism company to make it to a full listing on an internationally recognised stock exchange. A deal has been agreed with venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitya, via his investment company Social Capital Hedosophia (SCH). SCH now has a 49% stake in Sir Richard’s space company, with the current shareholders of Virgin Galactic retaining the remaining 51%.

The deal is effectively a merger, and once it is finalised, the new company will be listed under the Virgin Galactic name on the New York Stock Exchange. It is not expected that there will be any changes in the management structure, although new board appointments are likely. Capital raised from the merger will be invested in new space planes.

Any announcement made by this publicity hungry businessman is always likely to be received with more than a pinch of salt. He has announced several similar mega million dollar financial investments over the last decade, and still has yet to fly a single commercial passenger into space. Nevertheless, the unrelentingly positive British billionaire is always looking to break records, and this is another world first.

The company boasts more than 600 signed up passengers, with a total of around $800 million in deposits taken. It has also already received a licence to launch into space from the US Federal Aviation Administration. With more space planes on the way and its stock exchange listing opening the way for further investment, maybe this is the final push needed to turn Sir Richard’s dream, and those of his eager potential passengers, into reality.

Two successful launches for SpaceX

Late in June, SpaceX launched a third mission for their big rocket the Falcon Heavy. This is the biggest and heaviest rocket currently certified to launch, and the mission successfully deployed a total of 24 different satellites into three separate orbits.

The launch also marked a further commitment to SpaceX’s drive to be able to re-use as many of the rocket’s components as possible. Two previously used solid fuel rocket boosters (SRBs) were successfully returned to Earth, along with, for the first time, two of the rocket fairings (protective coverings). Each of these costs around $6 million to make, so recovering and re-using them on future missions represents a considerable cost saving for the company.

Sadly, the main booster did not make it safely back to Earth – it was destroyed close to the drone ship it was intended to land on. This failure was not entirely unexpected. Elon Musk had already warned that the risk of failure was high, because of the complicated flight path necessary to achieve three different orbits.

Less than a month later on July 25th, SpaceX launched its 18th re-supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Carrying more than 5,000 lbs of supplies and equipment, it successfully docked with the ISS two days later. The Dragon spacecraft used for this journey was on its third mission, and is expected to remain attached to the space station for around four weeks. The Falcon 9 first stage rocket used for the launch was successfully returned to Earth for re-use.

Busy month for NASA

NASA’s Orion space capsule underwent a second abort test this month. This test is designed to ensure that the capsule would be carried safely away from trouble in the event of a mishap at take-off. The test was conducted using a re-fitted Peacekeeper Inter-continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). This reached a height of well over 40,000 feet and a speed of around 750 mph before the Orion spacecraft was safely jettisoned and returned to Earth.

This brings the Orion capsule ever closer to carrying humans into space for the first time. When fully certified for human use, it will be launched into space via the NASA / Boeing designed Space Launch System (SLS). This is expected to be the world’s most powerful rocket when it is completed.

Orion will be used to transport astronauts to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis Program. The long term aim of the Artemis project is to set up a lunar space station called Gateway. These will act as a possible starting point for journeys to Mars. The next flight for the Orion capsule is an uncrewed test mission to orbit the Moon. This is scheduled for July 2020, with the first crewed flight following shortly after.

Another long term aim of NASA’s Artemis Program is a permanent colony on the Moon. A further step toward this goal came with a series of presentations and announcements this month. On 20th July, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, NASA unveiled the new Orion capsule with its completed service module for the first time. This Lockheed Martin design will be able to carry future astronauts to the Moon and possibly Mars too.

NASA also called for proposals from companies to design a new Moon lander, capable of transporting at least two astronauts to the lunar surface. This is scheduled to be achieved by 2024. Companies may then be required to develop a more advanced lander, capable of carrying up to four astronauts to the surface of the Moon and also to stay for longer periods of over two weeks. It is intended that the lander will begin its descent to the Moon’s surface from NASA’s Gateway space station in lunar orbit.

If potential colonists are to live on the Moon for longer periods, it will be essential to find plentiful supplies of water. With this in mind, NASA have also this month announced that it will partner with the United Kingdom’s Milton Keynes based Open University, to launch a Prospect Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS) to monitor a possible water cycle on the Moon. The instrument is expected to be launched from Earth and land on a large crater called Lacus Mortis in July 2021.

India set to launch second Moon mission

While we’re on the subject of all things lunar, India launched its second mission to the Moon on July 22nd. The first, launched in 2008, did not actually land on the Moon, but reached lunar orbit, carrying out the world’s first detailed search for water on the Moon’s surface. This mission, Chandrayaan-2, is planned to land near the lunar south pole, searching for water, minerals and surveying the region.

This new spacecraft will in fact come in three parts: a lunar orbiter will circle the Moon, taking images and surveying the surface from above. Meanwhile on the surface, the lander will also be carrying a small Moon rover with instruments which will allow it to analyse the lunar soil. The rover will only be able to travel a short distance of a few hundred metres. It will however, be able to send data and pictures back to Earth for further analysis before its battery is exhausted after around a fortnight.

Despite being launched this month, the lander and rover are not expected to reach the lunar surface until early in September. This is because Chandrayaan-2 is not able to travel directly to the Moon. Instead, it will take increasingly large orbits of the Earth until it is close enough to transfer into lunar orbit.

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 lands on asteroid

Japan’s innovative spacecraft has again successfully landed on an asteroid called Ryugu. It made an earlier successful mission to the surface in February. The first time, it “bounced” off the surface, collecting dust samples from the collision. But in April, it sent a small explosive charge down to detonate on the surface. This landing was designed to pick up rubble from the resulting crater, with the aim of recovering samples from deeper within the asteroid.

Both samples are now going to be returned to Earth for detailed analysis. The specimens are due back toward the end of 2020.

Russia launches powerful X-ray telescope Spektr-RG

Finally, the Russians launched their deep space X-ray telescope Spektr-RG on July 13th. This instrument is a joint Russian / German project. It will study and map X-rays across the cosmos with unprecedented clarity and detail. It is expected to discover millions of black holes over its operational life and it is hoped that it will help us to understand the deeper structure of the universe.

The telescope will not reach is ultimate destination for several weeks. It is then expected to arrive at its observation point, a special position called Lagrange Point 2, around 1.5km from Earth. This destination is directly behind the Earth as seen from the Sun. This is an ideal spot, because the telescope will therefore be shielded from the Sun’s direct rays by the Earth. It will also be a stable position, because the combined gravitational pull of the Earth and the Sun means that the telescope will orbit at exactly the same speed as the Earth, despite being much further away from the Sun.