He said on the trading floor:"We believe Virgin Galactic is ideally positioned to capitalise on the fast-growing, multibillion-dollar commercial space market and ultimately open space to thousands of new astronauts.
Blue Origin, the space business of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk's SpaceX are also bidding to bring tourists into space. VG has collected $80m in deposits to date. Customers include actor Leonardo DiCaprio and pop star Justin Bieber who have paid around $250,000 for a 90-minute flight that allows passengers to experience a few minutes of weightlessness.