Why Virgin Galactic Shares Rocketed Higher Today

Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE: SPCE) provided an update late Wednesday, and this time it did not include another delay. Shares of the space tourism company jumped more than 10% at the open on Thursday on investor relief that Virgin Galactic is still on track to launch commercial service early next year.

Virgin Galactic has flown through a lot of turbulence in the last year. The company's shares are down more than 80% since July 2021 due to a series of setbacks that have delayed regularly scheduled service. While Virgin Galactic has been in a holding pattern, rivals including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have launched successful flights, raising questions about how much demand will be left assuming it does get airborne.

On Wednesday after markets closed, Virgin Galactic announced a deal with Boeing (NYSE: BA) subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to build two new mother ships. These massive planes get the spacecraft off the ground before it separates and rockets into the upper atmosphere.

Source Fool.com