Boeing’s (NYSE: BA) venture arm HorizonX announced on Tuesday that it will invest $20 million in Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic, as the two companies hope to mature the technologies needed to make hypersonic air travel possible one day.
The investment from the aerospace giant comes as Virgin Galactic prepares to become the first human spaceflight company to go public. Virgin Galactic is planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange before the end of the year, through a merger announced in July with Social Capital Hedosophia(SCH), a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) created by venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.
Boeing will have a minority stake in Virgin Galactic once it goes public, as the investment is in return for new shares of the company. Once the merger closes, Virgin Galactic will have a valuation of $1.5 billion, with SCH retaining a 49% stake.
Virgin Galactic said in July that it was on track to begin flying its first customers next year. The company has a backlog of more than 600 customers as of the end of June. Additionally, since its two most recent test flights reached the edge of space, Virgin Galactic says it has received interest from more than 3,000 new potential customers.
Virgin Galactic today has about 800 employees between its flagship and manufacturing business units. The company has two more spacecraft under construction in Mojave and plans to expand its total fleet to five by the end of 2023.
BA shares slipped $5.70, or 1.5%, to $370.83 to begin Tuesday trading
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