The first publicly traded private spaceflight company’s stock price blasted out of this world. Then, before the closing bell, the stock fell back down to earth.
Virgin Galactic, founded by Sir Richard Branson, merged with Social Capital Hedosophia last week and today marks its first day on the New York Stock Exchange.
The ticker symbol is SPCE.
The stock opened at $12.34, climbed close to $13 and then closed at $11.75, down 4 cents or 0.34%.
“Now that VG is a publicly traded company, anyone can invest in a human spaceflight company that is striving to truly transform the market and be part of the excitement of the commercial space industry,” George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic Holdings, said in a statement Friday. “I am proud of the strong flow of customer deposits and interest we have earned to date, and look forward to making the dream of spaceflight come true for our amazing astronaut customers.”
Social Capital Hedosophia is owned by venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.
Earlier this month, Virgin Galactic presented the first-ever commercial space suit and footwear, which it worked on with Under Armour. The week before that, Boeing announced it was investing $20 million in Virgin Galactic.
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