Branson Injects Cash Into Galactic Space Race

Sir Richard Branson is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars more in his quest to build the world's first commercial space tourism venture.

Sky News has learnt that Virgin Galactic is in the early stages of raising up to $300m from its existing shareholders, led by Sir Richard's Virgin Group.

The latest injection of capital is aimed at accelerating the development of Galactic's commercial satellite venture and expanding production capacity at the company's headquarters.

It is thought to be the first major fundraising being undertaken by Virgin Galactic since a fatal crash in the Mojave desert involving SpaceShipTwo, a test craft, in October 2014.

The pilot was killed and his co-pilot seriously injured, casting doubt on the viability of Sir Richard's ambitions.

Earlier this year, however, Galactic unveiled a new spaceship, VSS Unity, and reiterated its commitment to the nearly 700 people who have reserved space on its inaugural commercial flights.

Speaking at the launch in February, Sir Richard said: "Together, we can make space accessible in a way that has only been dreamt of before now, and by doing so can bring positive change to life on Earth.

"Our beautiful new spaceship, VSS Unity, is the embodiment of that goal and will provide us with an unprecedented body of experience which will in turn lay the foundations for Virgin Galactic’s future".

It was unclear on Thursday whether Aabar Investments, Galactic's Abu Dhabi-based minority investor, would participate in the new fundraising.

The fledgling space tourism business announced the sale of a 32% stake in the company to Aabar for $280m in 2009, with the shareholding subsequently increased to more than 35%.

Galactic's platform for launching small satellites is seen as crucial to the future profitability of the business, with no firm date yet set for the launch of passenger flights.

It was unclear how long the latest capital injection would provide funding for, although people close to Sir Richard maintain that Sir Richard - who has received a recent windfall from the sale of Virgin America (NasdaqGS: VA - news) , his domestic US airline - is committed to the project "for the long term".

Virgin Galactic declined to comment.