Virgin Galactic slumps 15% on plan to sell shares and build spaceships

Virgin Galactic said it is raising up to £360million of cash through a share sale just a day after Richard Branson flew to space and back.

Shares slumped 15 per cent in New York on the news after an initial rally in pre-market trading. 

In a filing, the company says it plans to use the cash raised to develop its spaceship fleet and infrastructure.

Richard Branson (pictured) and five employees completed a long-awaited test flight to space on Sunday, reaching an altitude of more than 50 miles during the hour-long journey

The 70-year-old billionaire and five employees completed a long-awaited test flight to space on Sunday, reaching an altitude of more than 50 miles during the hour-long journey. 

‘Welcome to the dawn of a new space age,’ Branson told guests at the Spaceport America complex near the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

The trip also made the entrepreneur the first of the space tourism pioneers to try out their own shuttles, beating Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and SpaceX’s Elon Musk. Branson and his Virgin Group hold a 24 per cent stake in the company.

Yesterday Seraphim Space Investment Trust raised £180million ahead of its IPO. 

The investment trust is targeting a total annual return of 20 per cent from investments in space businesses.