Shares of billionaire Richard Branson’s American space company Virgin Galactic rose 19.7% to $5.53 on the New York Stock Exchange’s after-market on January 12. During the main session, the securities rose by 7.7%.

The growth of quotations of Virgin Galactic, specializing in space tourism, was observed after its announcement about updating the management structure and confirmation of plans to start commercial flights with tourists in the second quarter of 2023, RBC writes. Planned upgrades to the VMS Eve launch vehicle have been completed, the company said. Ground tests will take place next week and then Virgin Galactic will begin flight tests to validate the carrier ship. The company expects tourist flights to begin in the second quarter of 2023.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has delayed the start of commercial flights with tourists several times, including due to staff shortages and supply chain issues. The startup has disappointed investors by postponing launches scheduled for the third and then fourth quarter of 2022. Last May, Virgin Galactic once again pushed back the start of commercial flights to the first quarter of 2023.

As a result, last year was a bad year for Virgin Galactic, with its stock plummeting 75%. In December, the stock renewed its historic low – in trading on December 29, they fell to $3.24. The current capitalization of the company is approximately $1.3 billion. For comparison, in January 2021, when Virgin Galactic was one of the favorites in the market, its capitalization was $10.8 billion.