Virgin Galactic's stock rockets as 'Galactic 05' mission reaches space

By James Rogers

Galactic 05 was Virgin Galactic's second space-research mission this year

Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. climbed 11.4% Thursday as the company's Galactic 05 research mission reached space.

Galactic 05 was Virgin Galactic's (SPCE) sixth spaceflight in six months, took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 11 a.m. ET.

The mission's crew includes American Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist and associate vice president of the Southwest Research Institute's (SwRI) Space Sector, and American Kellie Gerardi, payload specialist and bioastronautics researcher for the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS). The two researchers conducted human-tended research during the suborbital spaceflight. The company said the mission also transported Ketty Maisonrouge, a private astronaut of Franco-Italian nationality, into space. Stern, Gerardi and Maisonrouge are Virgin Galactic astronaut numbers 20, 21, and 22, respectively.

Stern is the former associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

"Space looks good on you, #Galactic05 crew," Virgin Galactic tweeted almost an hour after launch.

The VSS Unity spacecraft returned safely to Earth a short time later.

Related: Virgin Galactic makes first commercial spaceflight, transporting Italian researchers into space

Galactic 05 was the company's second space research mission this year. In June the Galactic 01 mission transported three crew members from the Italian air force and the National Research Council of Italy into space to conduct research on microgravity. Galactic 01 was Virgin Galactic's first dedicated science mission.

Last month Virgin Galactic completed its Galactic 04 mission, which carried private astronauts from the U.S., the U.K. and Pakistan to space. The company made its first private astronaut spaceflight on Aug. 10, when the Galactic 02 mission took the second-youngest person ever into space and the first mother-daughter duo.

Related: Virgin Galactic's stock rises as it completes Galactic 04 mission, its fifth spaceflight in five months

Virgin Galactic shares have fallen 52.4% in 2023, compared with the S&P 500 index's SPX gain of 11.9%.

-James Rogers

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11-02-23 1234ET

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