Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic designs, manufactures, and operates suborbital spaceplanes for commercial human spaceflight. The company uses an air-launch system in which a carrier aircraft, known as the mothership, releases a rocket-powered spaceplane at high altitude. Passengers experience several minutes of weightlessness and views of Earth from the edge of space before gliding back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Founded in 2004 by Richard Branson, the company completed its first crewed spaceflight in December 2018 and began commercial service in June 2023 with its first-generation VSS Unity vehicle. After seven commercial flights, Unity was retired in mid-2024 as Virgin Galactic shifted focus to its next-generation Delta-class spaceplanes. The Delta vehicles are designed for higher flight frequency, improved economics, and greater payload capacity. Assembly of the first Delta-class vehicle began in Phoenix, Arizona in early 2025, with test flights planned for mid-2026 and commercial service expected in late 2026.

Virgin Galactic trades on the NYSE under the ticker SPCE. The company is headquartered in Tustin, California, with additional facilities in Mojave, Las Cruces, and Phoenix.