Virgin Galactic Narrows Loss as Commercial Flight Slips

The Tip Desk · November 13, 2026 · 3 min read

Third-quarter revenue was $0.4 million and the company now expects first commercial spaceflight in early second-quarter 2027.

Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE) reported revenue of $0.4 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, consistent with the year-earlier period, from access fees related to future astronauts and a future astronaut event.

GAAP total operating expenses fell to $59 million from $67 million in the third quarter of 2025. Non-GAAP total operating expenses were $49 million, compared with $58 million. The company said the improvement in net loss and adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by lower operating expenses in 2026.

Net loss was $59 million, or $0.39 a share, versus a $64 million net loss, or $1.09 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA was $(47) million, compared with $(53) million.

The sequential path was mixed. GAAP operating expenses declined from $65 million in the second quarter, and non-GAAP operating expenses from $54 million. Adjusted EBITDA improved to $(47) million from $(52) million. Net loss widened slightly to $59 million from $56 million in the second quarter.

Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $184 million as of September 30, 2026, down from $286 million as of June 30.

Net cash used in operating activities was $58 million. Cash paid for capital expenditures declined to $41 million from $51 million in the third quarter of 2025. Free cash flow was $(99) million, compared with $(108) million a year earlier.

Spaceline operations expense was $28.3 million in the three months ended September 30, 2026. Research and development expense was $2.6 million. Selling, general and administrative expense was $24.5 million. Depreciation and amortization was $4.1 million.

The company completed construction of the rocket motor production facility within the Spaceship Factory in Arizona, with final occupancy approval pending, and said preparations for assembly-line production are underway.

Chief Executive Officer Michael Colglazier said Spaceship Apeiron’s arrival at Spaceport America shifts the company’s focus toward operational readiness, as it prepares for flight test and the launch of commercial spaceflight. The company said a first glide flight with Apeiron is expected in January, and first commercial spaceflight is expected early in the second quarter of 2027. A second spaceship is expected to begin commercial spaceflight in late second-quarter or early third-quarter 2027.

That commercial-service date moved again. In the second-quarter update, the company said first commercial spaceflight moved to February 2027 to complete systems installations, after an earlier fourth-quarter 2026 target.

Virgin Galactic began booking a limited tranche of Spaceflight Expeditions at $850,000 per seat. More than 100 astronauts began preparations for upcoming spaceflights. In August, the company said a $750,000 tranche had been oversubscribed and booked out ahead of schedule, adding over $50 million to expected future spaceflight revenue, and that a new tranche at higher price points was expected that fall.

Colglazier said that with the second spaceship on track to join Apeiron and Eve in late second-quarter or early third-quarter 2027, the company has initiated near-term growth projects expected to increase capacity from this initial fleet to a rate of 150 spaceflights per year by the end of 2028. A new high-cadence launch hangar and fueling infrastructure, planned to open in the second half of 2028, is expected to increase spaceflight capacity by 20% to that 150-flight annual rate.

Free cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2026 is expected to be in the range of $(80) million to $(90) million, versus a third-quarter 2026 guide of $(95) million to $(100) million.