VG is trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker “SPCE” following a merger with Social Capital Hedosophia (SCH), a public investment vehicle.
Shares opened at $12.34 and rose as high as $12.93, with 196 million shares in issue.
VG hopes that the public offering will give the company a foundation to complete its test flight program, commence regular commercial passenger flights with their SpaceShipTwo system, and drive technological innovation and expansion into new markets.
Founder Richard Branson appeared at the NYSE in one of VG’s new space suits for the start of trading.
“With our proprietary spaceflight system, special airspace access at Spaceport America, globally recognized brand and broad investor interest, we believe Virgin Galactic is ideally positioned to capitalise on the fast-growing, multibillion-dollar commercial space market and ultimately open space to thousands of new astronauts,” Mr Branson said.
“Today, we accomplished one mission, and as we bring more and more future astronauts to space, we look forward to accomplishing many more.”
The company previously tried the private equity route, entering into talks with the government of Saudi Arabia to provide funding.
But those talks were suspended following the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in which the Saudi government was heavily implicated.
Virgin Galactic offers flights to the edge of space for the price of $250,000 a head, making them one of the more affordable options for space tourists. Mr Branson wants to lower prices further when the company has made back some of its R&D costs.
The private space sector is set for a boom in the next decade, with both Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ BlueOrigin rapidly expanding their operations.
