The Taylor Star-wall street workbook: October 2019

Monday, October 21, 2019

Boeing's Full Ahead in Commercial Space - joins Virgin Galactic and reveals launch date

A new strategic partnership between Boeing and Virgin Galactic has been announced, as has the first launch date for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.Boeing is to invest 20 million dollars in Virgin Galactic and the two aerospace firms will collaborate on transformative global travel technologies, Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson said:
This is the beginning of an important collaboration for the future of air and space travel, which are the natural next steps for our human spaceflight programme.Virgin Group and Boeing share a vision of opening access to the world and space, to move people in safe and environmentally responsible ways.*
The Boeing investment involves acquiring shares in the soon to be merged Virgin Galactic and Social Capital Hedosophia, which is expected to close in Q4 2019.SCH is a Cayman islands shell company set up by venture capitalists in 2017 to take high value start-ups public.*
According to Brian Schettler, Senior Managing Director of Boeing HorizonX Ventures:
Our work with Virgin Galactic and others will help unlock the future of space travel and high-speed mobility.*
Adds Boeing Defense, Space and Security President and CEO Leanne Caret:
The unique expertise of our companies stretches from points all around the world to the deepest reaches of space.Together we will change how people travel on Earth, and among the stars, for generations to come.*
Among other projects, Virgin Galactic recently unveiled a contract with the Italian Air Force to carry a research payload into space on a VG SpaceShip Two spacecraft.*
For its part, Boeing has announced a launch date of 17 December 2019 for the uncrewed test flight of its CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, which will be launched on a ULA Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.The Starliner will dock with the ISS,stay about a week,then land by parachute on the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
On 4 November, the Starliner will execute an in-flight abort test of that critical safety system. Pending successful testing, Boeing plans to begin ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the ISS in the Starliner next year.*
Virgin Galactic has successfully launched two crewed spaceflights-one in 2018,and the other in February 2019.*