Boeing, the aircraft manufacturing giant, announced yesterday about its intention to invest $20 million to purchase stacks in Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism company. The deal is expected to be closed by the fourth quarter of this year.
Virgin Galactic has also enlightened about its planning to go public till the end of this year after its hook-up with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings, and to be the first publicly traded company in space tourism sector.
The Senior Managing Director of Boeing HorizonX Ventures, Brian Schettler states, “Boeing’s strategic investment facilitates our effort to drive the commercialization of space and broaden consumer access to safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible new forms of transportation.”
He added, “It’s really about catalyzing the partnership first and foremost between two companies that bring incredible complementary capabilities to commercial space and to the key technologies needed — and frankly beyond just technologies. The whole end-to-end solutions to bring high speed mobility to the masses”
Previously, Boeing’s Horizon X has also invested in few technology-focused companies including an on-demand drone delivery firm named Matternet, a satellite communications company named Myriota, and a hyper-sonic engine manufacturing company named Reaction Engines.
Currently, Boeing is working on its own space projects too in which Starliner space taxi is a big name. According to Boeing, this space taxi will ferry astronauts to the International Space Station.
Meanwhile, VG’s competitor, Blue Origin is also planning to send its New Shephard rockets in space as a passenger flight, and SpaceX is planning to take tourists around the moon.
George Thomas Whitesides, the CEO of Virgin Galactic states, “We are excited to partner with Boeing to build something that can truly change how people move around the planet.” He also added, “The broader capabilities of Boeing are unmatched in mobility and experience in human spaceflight, so we’re over the moon about this partnership.”
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