Virgin Galactic preps for the last VSS Unity flight with next-gen spaceplanes called a game changer

The launch window for the last commercial flight of Virgin Galactic Holdings’ (NYSE:SPCE) VSS Unity on the suborbital Galactic 07 Mission opens on June 8. Virgin Galactic (SPCE) will use its new Delta class vehicle in the future, which the company anticipates could fly once or twice a week, compared to SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity’s once-a-month limit. “The planned increase in flight cadence for our mothership Eve is a gamechanger when our first two Delta ships enter commercial service,” highlighted Chief Financial Officer Doug Ahrens recently. “This is the first steppingstone in our economic growth story as these profits can be reinvested further expand our fleet and drive additional growth,” he noted.

Virgin Galactic (SPCE) made some news in the legal world this week when it dismissed a lawsuit that had been filed against Boeing (BA) in California federal court. The lawsuit accused Boeing (BA) of breaking a contract to develop Virgin’s space-tourism mothership and unlawfully claiming rights to related trade secrets. The lawsuit arrived right after Boeing (BA) sued Virgin Galactic (SPCE) in Virginia federal court in March for allegedly refusing to return proprietary information and failing to pay the company more than $25 million for completed work. Virgin Galactic (SPCE) originally inked a contract with Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences division in 2022 to help design a new mothership. However, Virgin Galactic (SPCE) accused Boeing (BA) of “shoddy and incomplete work” and said it was entitled to monetary damages.

In its filing with the court, Virgin Galactic (SPCE) indicated that it would drop the case in its entirety.

Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE) were up 1.68% in premarket trading on Friday to $0.84. Short interest on SPCE stands at 27.8% of the total float.