Virgin Galactic

[Nikxice]

In early trading today SPCE shot up from 4 to 6 bucks, briefly increasing the market cap by almost half a billion dollars. Founded in 2004, supporting 800 employees, strivng for an aspirational cadence of one successful flight per month....the numbers don't add up. Although for Sir Richard, SPCE has been a nice ATM, having yielded him hundreds of millions of dollars with periodic stock sales.

 

[Mike1080i]

Only $450,000 per seat!

About $5,000 per minute for the expected 90 minute flight time...

Since the microgravity portion of the flight only lasts about 4-5 minutes, it's about $100,000 minute for that part of the experience.

 

[Electroman]

Since the microgravity portion of the flight only lasts about 4-5 minutes, it's about $100,000 minute for that part of the experience.

Exactly.. the time spent in space is just a few minutes..

 

[JB47394]

Exactly.. the time spent in space is just a few minutes..

For those who only care about that, yes, it's an expensive way to be in space for a few minutes. For those who enjoy the adventure of getting into a flight suit, being in a rocket plane slung under a huge double-fuselage aircraft, the sensation of rocketing away from Earth, the sight of a feathered reentry, the experience of an unpowered return to a runway, it'll offer a much better deal.

Then there's the stories they can tell at dinner parties...

 

[Cosmacelf]

For those who only care about that, yes, it's an expensive way to be in space for a few minutes. For those who enjoy the adventure of getting into a flight suit, being in a rocket plane slung under a huge double-fuselage aircraft, the sensation of rocketing away from Earth, the sight of a feathered reentry, the experience of an unpowered return to a runway, it'll offer a much better deal.

Then there's the stories they can tell at dinner parties...

Honestly, I trust SpaceX's orbital flights a lot more than I trust Virgin Galactic's joy ride. The former has a perfect human flight safety record, the other doesn't.

 

[Electroman]

I thought this company went bankrupt? Or is it another one with similar sounding name ?

 

[philw1776]

Virgin Orbit, an orbital satellite launcher went bankrupt. Virgin Galactic will soon follow but not yet.

 

[qdeathstar]

How much does SpaceX charge? I thought my was like 10ml… 450k is way more accessible than 10 mul. I’d argue SpaceX and Virgin aren’t even really competing…

 

[ecarfan]

How much does SpaceX charge? I thought my was like 10ml… 450k is way more accessible than 10 mul. I’d argue SpaceX and Virgin aren’t even really competing…

The two companies are not competing in my view because SpaceX only offers crewed missions to orbit and Virgin Galactic does not reach orbit. Very different experiences for the passengers.

 

[qdeathstar]

The two companies are not competing in my view because SpaceX only offers crewed missions to orbit and Virgin Galactic does not reach orbit. Very different experiences for the passengers.

Yea so I don’t get all the hate. For people who want to experience spaciness this is way more obtainable than SpaceX….

 

[ggr]

How much does SpaceX charge? I thought my was like 10ml… 450k is way more accessible than 10 mul. I’d argue SpaceX and Virgin aren’t even really competing…

Even a single orbit (~90 minutes of microgravity) is better value per minute for SpaceX.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Yea so I don’t get all the hate. For people who want to experience spaciness this is way more obtainable than SpaceX….

It isn’t hate, it’s just my opinion that I would feel safer doing a full orbital trip with SpaceX than Virgin’s much more limited ride. I just don’t think Virgin has their act together, the ship is complex, hasn't had a lot of flights, relies on human pilots a lot, etc.

 

[ecarfan]

Yea so I don’t get all the hate. For people who want to experience spaciness this is way more obtainable than SpaceX….

I would not exaggerate and label disagreement as “hate”.

Yes, a Virgin Galactic flight in some ways is easier to get on than a ride to LEO on an F9, though we have no visibility into how long the waiting list is for VG (I suspect there are dozens if not hundreds of people who have put down a deposit, and many years ago) and at their current flight cadence the people on the waitlist are going to wait for many years. My opinion is that VG will make a few more flights in the next year or two and then declare bankruptcy when it becomes apparent that they will not be able to fly often enough to turn a profit. But I could be wrong…

 

[Nikxice]

How much does SpaceX charge? I thought my was like 10ml… 450k is way more accessible than 10 mul. I’d argue SpaceX and Virgin aren’t even really competing…

For some weekend OT, it's interesting to read the different takes on either barely reaching Space or go for the orbital ticket. The cost for access to Space can vary wildly. VGs closest competitor is probably Blue Origin. VG is now advertising 450K. Could you also buy a ticket from Bezos for 450K? Maybe, but his price is likely at least double that amount. I don't think BO has yet published a confirmed hard price. It might also depend on who you are. Bill Shatner, Michael Strahan, and Alan Shepard's daughter Laura....paid nothing. Then again, I recall that BO seat that was auctioned off for over 20M.

For an orbital experience, SpaceX and eventually maybe Boeing, pricing becomes otherworldly. Going thru Axiom Space, a seat on a SpaceX Dragon 2 starts north of 55M. It's not easy to calculate what NASA is paying SpaceX, but remember reading an estimate of about 88M. In line with legacy Space contractor pricing, NASA will be paying Boeing more than double that when they finally fix their Starliner. Even though the Commercial Crew contract was designed to be a fixed-cost program versus cost-plus, Boeing got a better paying deal. Although I've read after years of delays and an additional OFT redo, so far the CCP has been a money loser for Boeing. If Boeing eventually does accept paying passengers, I'd expect them to be charging top $$$.

 

[qdeathstar]

Even a single orbit (~90 minutes of microgravity) is better value per minute for SpaceX.

Who care, only a super small portion of the world can realize that value.

 

[qdeathstar]

[/QUOTE]

Hate/dismissal, as you did with the rest of your post.

 

[scaesare]

Hate/dismissal, as you did with the rest of your post.

So folks yesterday had already expressed the same sentiment I had: I don't really see the hate here as much as comparing/contrasting the facets offered by the various companies, and the value they personally see in them... so I didn't bother essentially repeating what had already been said.

But now you are doubling down on your attributing "hate" as the motivation for what you characterize as "dismissive" posts.

So I will chime in: You seem to be alone in seeing the discussion here as hateful. I, nor anybody else posting here, seems to. And "hate" would seem to be a bit much here given it's definition:

a
: intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury
b
: extreme dislike or disgust : ANTIPATHY, LOATHING
had a great hate of hard work

c
: a systematic and especially politically exploited expression of hatred
a crime motivated by bigotry and hate


see also HATE CRIME

2
: an object of hatred
a generation whose finest hate had been big business—F. L. Paxson

So unless you care to point out somebody here negatively portraying a company based on something other than their capability/offerings/cost and instead something involving loathing, anger, fear, etc... I have to strongly disagree with you.

 

[qdeathstar]

So folks yesterday had already expressed the same sentiment I had: I don't really see the hate here as much as comparing/contrasting the facets offered by the various companies, and the value they personally see in them... so I didn't bother essentially repeating what had already been said.

But now you are doubling down on your attributing "hate" as the motivation for what you characterize as "dismissive" posts.

So I will chime in: You seem to be alone in seeing the discussion here as hateful. I, nor anybody else posting here, seems to. And "hate" would seem to be a bit much here given it's definition:



So unless you care to point out somebody here negatively portraying a company based on something other than their capability/offerings/cost and instead something involving loathing, anger, fear, etc... I have to strongly disagree with you.

Hate on as a different definition than hate. Although I suppose I didn’t say hate on.

Hate on/dismiss were meant to signify the words were synonymous.

 

[ecarfan]

Hate on as a different definition than hate. Although I suppose I didn’t say hate on.

Hate on/dismiss were meant to signify the words were synonymous.

Then please just say “dismiss” which is a word that everyone understands.

No need to use synonyms in the same sentence unless you are writing internal communications for The Department of Redundancy Department.

 

[qdeathstar]

Then please just say “dismiss” which is a word that everyone understands.

No need to use synonyms in the same sentence unless you are writing internal communications for The Department of Redundancy Department.

You agree you were being dismissive of Virgin Galactic. But you don’t think being dismissive is at anyway similar to hating. OK….