(Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. agreed to invest $20 million for a minority stake in Virgin Galactic, a startup that is preparing to fly its customers into space next year.
The relationship is designed as a collaboration aimed at shaping the future of human space travel, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. Virgin Galactic also is setting its longer-term sights on shuttling airline travelers around the world at high speeds.
Boeing’s investment is “a catalyst for broader collaboration and deeper collaboration,” said Virgin Galactic Chief Executive Officer George Whitesides. The future high-speed airline travel -- above Earth’s atmosphere -- is “a big chess board” with numerous engineering, technological and financial issues to resolve, he said in an interview. “We can really start to dig into some of these questions that need to be put in place.”
Boeing will make the investment through its HorizonX Ventures arm to join the space startup founded by U.K. billionaire Richard Branson. Boeing next year is set to fly its first commercial space customers -- astronauts -- to the International Space Station as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s commercial crew program.
To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Bachman in Dallas at jbachman2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Tony Robinson
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