BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Tuesday, July 9th, 2019 at 8:34am
LONDON — Richard Branson’s space-tourism venture, Virgin Galactic, is planning to go public, creating the first listed human spaceflight firm.
Virgin Galactic. which intends to launch tourists to the boundary of space from New Mexico’s Spaceport America, said Tuesday it is merging with Social Capital Hedosophia. That company’s CEO, Chamath Palihapitiya, will become chairman of the combined entity. The value of the merger was put at $1.5 billion.
“We are at the dawn of a new space age, with huge potential to improve and sustain life on Earth,” Branson said. “I am delighted that SCH has decided to become such an important part of our amazing journey. They share our dreams and together we will make them reality.”
