Abu Dhabi company has stellar vision for Virgin Galactic stake
By Andrew England in Abu Dhabi
Published: July 29 2009 03:00 | Last updated: July 29 2009 03:00
An Abu Dhabi state-linked investment company is planning to buy a 32 per cent stake in Virgin Galactic, the commercial space venture of entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, in the latest sign of the oil-rich emirate's rising ambitions.
Aabar Investments will pay $280m (£170m) for the holding in the company, which was launched in 2004 and aims to start flying private passengers to space within two years at a cost of $200,000 per ticket.
The Abu Dhabi group also plans to invest an extra $100m to help pay for research that would give Virgin Galactic the option of launching small satellites from unmanned rockets.
Will Whitehorn, Virgin Galactic's president, said the new investment offered a significant boost.
"It completely funds the project through to commerciality," he said. "It gives us a kick start to get the satellite capability going and I think they will be a great partner. They [Aabar] have got a very strong ambition to invest in transportation and technology, and Abu Dhabi has strong ambitions in developing science within the emirate. This project seemed to fit both criteria for them."
Under the deal, which still requires regulatory clearance, Aabar would gain exclusive regional rights to host tourism and scientific research space flights if it built a spaceport facility in Abu Dhabi.
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A video made by me about space and the loneliness in the universe
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