On Wednesday, Virgin Galactic’s Eve spacecraft completed a successful glide test returning to Earth safely.

The flight test was conducted after Virgin Galactic’s inaugural flight in 2021. The company had grounded its spaceplane to make structural improvements and extend the flight. Since then, the company lost half a billion dollars because it had not flown any customers in space. Virgin Galactic’s stock price was hovering around $55 per share after their first flight and now trades at $3 a share.

Wednesday’s test flight is the last round of testing before the spaceplane will run a test using its rocket booster. Virgin Galactic the rocket booster tests will lead to a return of space tourism.

Right now, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are promoting space tourism as a way of pushing commercial space programs while SpaceX is focused on commercial payloads. It’s an excited time and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Virgin Galactic intends to perform flight tests once-a-month. The company thinks flying 400 missions a year will bring them profitability around 2026.