By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Virgin Orbit stock (NASDAQ:VORB) soared more than 20% Thursday as the company secured a five-year $300 million NASA contract to do launches for the space agency.
The stock touched the day’s high of $10.24 on Thursday, though trading halted for a time because of extreme volatility.
The contract calls upon the Richard Branson-founded company to launch an indefinite number of satellites under a fixed price. According to the company, it enables more efficient launch timelines and mission-tailored orbits.
The order provides a platform for NASA to more easily contract for flights on Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket.
The company has already launched 13 satellites to space for NASA through programs like the Venture Class Launch Services program and the CubeSat Launch Initiative – exercises aimed at transporting smaller payloads into low-Earth orbits.
The contract for Virgin Orbit is part of NASA’s attempts to lower cost of launches and have more private sector participation.
Earlier this month, Virgin Orbit put seven satellites in low orbit, its third successful launch in under 12 months.
The company is targeting five more missions this year, including two in the summer from Cornwall, U.K., which will be the company’s first international foray. Virgin plans to launch from Japan as soon as 2023 and eventually to make flights from Guam and Brazil, according to Bloomberg.