Virgin Galactic is expected to start trading directly on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, following the approval of the space tourism firm's merger with a Chamath Palihapitiya-led venture.
According to CNBC, Sir Richard Branson's company is the first-ever human space adventure firm to attempt trading on the public market. If everything goes as planned, industry experts are expecting to see increased interest in tourists venturing into outer space.
While the merger with Palihapitiya's Social Capital Hedosophia (SCH) means the venture means Branson will only have 51 percent of stake control, the merger allowed for Virgin Galactic to have a combined valuation of $1.5 billion.
If the merger closes successfully on Friday, Virgin Galactic shares will trade under the symbol SPCE. Even before the expected first day of trading on Monday, Branson dropped hints on the public entry of his space tourism company.
Branson's brainchild has been making big announcements over the past few weeks. Last week, the company unveiled a spacesuit collection that it jointly created with Under Armour.
The said space suits will allow were sewn with specialized material that will keep tourists comfortable and protected as they venture into outer space. Tickets for a single flight are priced at around $250,000 per person. The company said it currently has 603 customers on the waiting list.
While it appears that a growing number of people are interested in experiencing a brief moment in outer space, Tech Crunch noted that Monday's trading at the NYSE will prove whether investors are just as interested as the space-loving consumer.
Not too many industry analysts or business model experts have said anything negative about Virgin Galactic's plans to bring tourists to outer space under safe conditions. On the other hand, silence can also be taken as a sign of extra care from investors.
Despite an apparent silence among some aviation giants, U.S. jet maker Boeing announced earlier this month that it will invest $20 million in the space tourism venture. Branson said at that time that the Boeing investment is just the beginning of space and air travel cooperation.
The Boeing-Virgin Galactic deal is expected to be completed before year-end, and after the space tourism firm proves investor confidence in the stock and business model.
SCH is already trading under the New York Stock Exchange and shares jumped over three percent on Thursday morning, following news of the merger's developments. It is also worth noting that Galactic's management team is free of debt, CNN reported.
Having a debt-free management circle could play a major role in boosting investor sentiment for the world's "first and only publicly traded commercial human spaceflight company."
Virgin Galactic is currently attempting to have its first commercial space flight, supposedly ahead of the Elon Musk-led SpaceX venture. Another competitor in line is Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin passenger space flights.
