Virgin Galactic stock soars after confirming SpaceShipTwo Unity test flight this week
Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. soared 14.9% in premarket trading Thursday, putting them on track for a fifth straight gain, after the aerospace and space travel company confirmed that the next test flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity will be conducted on May 22. The test flight will be subject to weather and technical checks. The confirmed test comes after the completion of a maintenance review of VMS Eve, which is the “mothership” jet aircraft that will carry SpaceShipTwo to an altitude of 50,000 feet. The stock has jumped 11.4% amid a four-day win streak through Wednesday, after closing at an 11-month low of $15.50 on May 13. It has tumbled 66.3% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.4%.Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPCE) are trading higher on Thursday on news out from the company for its planned timeline of taking passengers to space.
What Happened: The next rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShip Two Unity will be conducted on May 22. The flight from Virgin Galactic will depend on the weather and technical checks.
The test flight announcement comes following the completion of the maintenance review of VMS Eve, the mothership jet aircraft that will carry the SpaceShip Two Unity to an altitude of 50,000 feet.
The VSS Unity flight will have two pilots and also carry research payloads for the NASA Flight Opportunities Program.
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