Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) reported a larger loss for the past quarter and revealed no more reservations for the space flights that it aims to begin early next year.
The space tourism company said it had reservations for roughly 800 flights, the same as it reported in the first quarter of the year.
As of the end of June, the company said it had US$104.8mln in deposits from 'future astronauts' who stump up US$1,000 but will eventually need to round this up to US$450,000 to follow in founder Sir Richard Branson's zero-gravity steps in the VSS Unity to the edge of space.
Due to higher general and R&D costs, a net loss of US$111mln was reported for the second quarter of 2022, compared to a US$93mln loss in the first and a US$94mln loss a year ago.
After a higher cash outflow of US$91mln, the New Mexcio-based company's cash position remained solid, with liquid resources of US$1.1bn at the half-year stage, down from US$1.22bn over the quarter. A cash outflow of $110mln-$120mlnis expected for the third quarter.
“We are executing on our plans to scale the business by developing our future fleet, investing in digital manufacturing technologies, and building out our commercial strategy to deliver a consumer experience like no other,” said chief executive Michael Colglazier.
“Against a backdrop of escalating supply chain and labor constraints, our teams are containing the majority of these issues to minimize impact on schedules."
He said the group was looking forward to returning to space in the fourth quarter, where it will carry out a first test flight since it was forced to delay its first commercial flights last September because of a possible malfunctioning component in its rocket.
The company was forced to abort several missions in recent years due to technical issues and even the flight with Branson last summer turned out to have been afflicted by wobbly moments, which were then investigated by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),
Colglazier said the plan remained to begin commercial flights in the first quarter of 2023.