This prospectus relates to the resale of up to 150,464,840 shares of our common stock by the selling stockholders named in this prospectus or their permitted transferees, which includes up to 142,464,840 outstanding shares of our common stock and up to 8,000,000 shares of our common stock that are issuable upon the exercise of warrants to purchase our common stock that were initially issued in connection with a private placement. We are registering the shares for resale pursuant to such stockholders’ registration rights under a registration rights agreement between us and such stockholders. Subject to any contractual restrictions on them selling the shares of our common stock they hold, the selling stockholders may offer, sell or distribute all or a portion of their shares of our common stock publicly or through private transactions at prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the shares of our common stock owned by the selling stockholders. We will bear all costs, expenses and fees in connection with the registration of these shares of our common stock, including with regard to compliance with state securities or “blue sky” laws. The selling stockholders will bear all commissions and discounts, if any, attributable to their sale of shares of our common stock.

See “Plan of Distribution” beginning on page 112118 of this prospectus.

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “SPCE”. On April 30,May 8, 2020, the last reported sale price of our common stock was $17.62$20.18 per share.

Neither we nor the selling stockholders have authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectuses prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. Neither we nor the selling stockholders take any responsibility for, nor provide any assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. Neither we nor the selling stockholders will make an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

This prospectus includes market data and industry statistics and forecasts that are based on independent industry publications and other publicly available information. Although we believe these sources are reliable, neither we nor the selling stockholders guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this information and neither we nor the selling stockholders have independently verified this information. In addition, the market and industry data and forecasts that may be included in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement or any applicable free writing prospectus may involve estimates, assumptions and other risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement and any applicable free writing prospectus. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on this information.

As used in this prospectus, unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, the terms “we,” “our,” “us” and the “Company” mean Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries, which was a special purpose acquisition company called “Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp.” prior to the closing of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination (as defined herein) on October 25, 2019. When we refer to “you,” we mean the potential holders of the shares of our common stock.

In this prospectus, we refer to our common stock and warrants to purchase shares of common stock, collectively, as “securities.”

We have incurred significant losses since inception. We incurred net losses of $59.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and $210.9 million, $138.1 million and $138.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. While we have generated limited revenue from flying payloads into space, we have not yet started commercial human spaceflight operations, and it is difficult for us to predict our future operating results. As a result, our losses may be larger than anticipated, and we may not achieve profitability when expected, or at all, and even if we do, we may not be able to maintain or increase profitability.

We expect our operating expenses to increase over the next several years as we move towards commercial launch of our human spaceflight operations, continue to attempt to streamline our manufacturing process, increase our flight cadence, hire more employees and continue research and development efforts relating to new products and technologies. These efforts may be more costly than we expect and may not result in increased revenue or growth in our business. Any failure to increase our revenue sufficiently to keep pace with our investments and other expenses could prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability or positive cash flow. Furthermore, if our future growth and operating performance fail to meet investor or analyst expectations, or if we have future negative cash flow or losses resulting from our investment in acquiring future astronauts or expanding our operations, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have generated only limited revenue from spaceflight, and we expect that our success will be highly dependent, especially in the foreseeable future, on our ability to effectively market and sell human spaceflight experiences. We have limited experience in marketing and selling human spaceflights, which we refer to as our astronaut experience, and if we are unable to utilize our current sales organization effectively, or to expand our sales organization as needed, in order to adequately target and engage our potential future astronauts, our business may be adversely affected. To date, we have primarily sold the reservations for our astronaut experience to future astronauts through direct sales and have sold a limited number of seats each year. Since 2014, we have not been actively selling our astronaut experience. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to attract new future astronauts in a cost-effective manner. While we had a backlog of overapproximately 600 future astronauts as of December 31, 2019,April 29, 2020, we are making, and as of February 23, 2020 have received 7,957 inbound inquiries since December 2018, we expect that we will need to make, significant investments in order to attract new future astronauts. Our sales growth is dependent upon our ability to implement strategic initiatives and these initiatives may not be effective in generating sales growth. In addition, marketing campaigns, which we have not historically utilized, can be expensive and may not result in the acquisition of future astronauts in a cost-effective manner, if at all. Further, as our brand becomes more widely known, future marketing campaigns or brand content may not attract new future astronauts at the same rate as past campaigns or brand content. If we are unable to attract new future astronauts, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be harmed.

The market for commercial human spaceflight has not been established with precision and is still emerging. Our estimates for the total addressable market for commercial human spaceflight are based on a number of internal and third-party estimates, including our current backlog, the number of consumers who have expressed interest in our astronaut experience, assumed prices at which we can offer our astronaut experience, assumed flight cadence, our ability to leverage our current manufacturing and operational processes and general market conditions. While we believe our assumptions and the data underlying our estimates are reasonable, these assumptions and estimates may not be correct and the conditions supporting our assumptions or estimates may change at any time, thereby reducing the predictive accuracy of these underlying factors. As a result, our estimates of the annual total addressable market for our astronaut experience, as well as the expected growth rate for the total addressable market for that experience, may prove to be incorrect.

We expect to commence commercial operations with a single spaceflight system. While we have already been issued our commercial launch license, we must clear a final set of provisos related to the analysis of test flight data

Even if we complete development and commence commercial human spaceflight operations, we will be dependent on a single spaceflight system. To be successful, we will need to maintain a sufficient flight rate, which will be negatively impacted if we are not able to operate that system for any reason. We may be unable to operate our current spaceflight system at our anticipated flight rate for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, unexpected weather patterns, maintenance issues, pilot error, design and engineering flaws, natural disasters, epidemics or pandemics, changes in governmental regulations or in the status of our regulatory approvals or applications or other events that force us to cancel or reschedule flights. In the event we need to replace any components or hardware of our spaceflight system, there are limited numbers of replacement parts available, some of which have significant lead time associated with procurement or manufacture, so any unplanned failures could result in reduced numbers of flights and significant delays to our planned growth.

Our current primary research and development objectives focus on the development of our existing and any additional spaceflight systems and related technology. If we do not complete this development in our anticipated timeframes or at all, our ability to grow our business will be adversely affected. The successful development of our spaceflight systems and related technology involves many uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control, including:

We manufacture and operate highly sophisticated spaceflight systems and offer a specialized astronaut experience that depends on complex technology. While we have built operational processes to ensure that the design, manufacture, performance and servicing of our spaceflight systems meet rigorous quality standards, there can be no assurance that we will not experience operational or process failures and other problems, including through manufacturing or design defects, pilot error, cyber-attacks or other intentional acts, that could result in potential safety risks. Any actual or perceived safety issues may result in significant reputational harm to our businesses, in addition to tort liability, maintenance, increased safety infrastructure and other costs that may arise. Such issues with our spaceflight systems or customer safety could result in delaying or cancelling planned flights, increased regulation or other systemic consequences. Our inability to meet our safety standards or adverse publicity affecting our reputation as a result of accidents, mechanical failures, damages to customer property or medical complications could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.

As of December 31, 2019,April 29, 2020, our backlog represents orders from more thanfor approximately 600 future astronauts for which we have not yet recognized revenue. While many of these orders were accompanied by a significant deposit, the deposits are largely refundable and the reservations may be cancelled under certain circumstances without penalty. Additionally, we have received over 400 One Small Step deposits as of April 29, 2020, which are for only $1,000 per deposit and are also fully refundable. As a result, we may not receive revenue from these orders and deposits, and any order backlog or other deposits we report may not be indicative of our future revenue. Additionally, asAs of February 23,April 29, 2020, we have received 7,957more than 9,160 inbound inquiries about flight reservations since SpaceShipTwo’s first spaceflight in December 2018, but those inquiries have not been accompanied by any deposits, and we may not be able to convert those inquiries into reservations and revenue.

Many events may cause a delay in our ability to fulfill reservations or cause planned spaceflights to not be completed at all, some of which may be out of our control, including unexpected weather patterns, maintenance issues, natural disasters, epidemics or pandemics, changes in governmental regulations or in the status of our regulatory approvals or applications or other events that force us to cancel or reschedule flights. If we delay spaceflights or if future astronauts reconsider their astronaut experience, those future astronauts may seek to cancel their planned spaceflight, and may obtain a full or partial refund.

To date, only one of our test flights included a crew member that was not a pilot. The success of our human spaceflight operations will depend on our achieving and maintaining a sufficient level of passenger capacity on our spaceflights. We have not yet tested flights with a full cabin and it is possible that the number of passengers per flight may not meet our expectations for a number of factors, including maximization of the passenger experience and satisfaction. Any decrease from our assumptions in the number of passengers per flight could adversely impact our ability to generate revenue at the rate we anticipate.

We have previously experienced, and may experience in the future, delays or other complications in the design, manufacture, launch, production, delivery and servicing ramp of new spaceflight systems and related technology.technology, including on account of the global COVID-19 health crisis. If delays like this arise or recur, if our remediation measures and process changes do not continue to be successful or if we experience issues with planned manufacturing improvements or design and safety, we could experience issues in sustaining the ramp of our spaceflight system or delays in increasing production further.

If we encounter difficulties in scaling our delivery or servicing capabilities, if we fail to develop and successfully commercialize spaceflight technologies, if we fail to develop such technologies before our competitors,

The success of our business depends in part on effectively managing and maintaining our existing spaceflight system, manufacturing more spaceflight systems, operating a sufficient number of spaceflights to meet customer demand and providing future astronauts with an astronaut experience that meets or exceeds their expectations. If for any reason we are unable to manufacture new spaceflight systems or are unable to schedule spaceflights as planned, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If our current or future spaceflight systems do not meet expected performance or quality standards, including with respect to customer safety and satisfaction, this could cause operational delays. In addition, any delay in manufacturing new spacecraft as planned could cause us to operate our existing spaceflight system more frequently than planned and in such a manner that may increase maintenance costs. Further, flight operations within restricted airspace require advance scheduling and coordination with government range owners and other users, and any high priority national defense assets will have priority in the use of these resources, which may impact our cadence of spaceflight operations or could result in cancellations or rescheduling. Any operational or manufacturing delays or other unplanned changes to our ability to operate spaceflights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If our operations continue to grow as planned, of which there can be no assurance, we will need to expand our sales and marketing, research and development, customer and commercial strategy, products and services, supply, and manufacturing and distribution functions. We will also need to continue to leverage our manufacturing and operational systems and processes, and there is no guarantee that we will be able to scale the business and the manufacture of spacecraft as currently planned or within the planned timeframe. The continued expansion of our business may also require additional manufacturing and operational facilities, as well as space for administrative support, and there is no guarantee that we will be able to find suitable locations or partners for the manufacture and operation of our spaceflight systems.

Our continued growth could increase the strain on our resources, and we could experience operating difficulties, including difficulties in hiring, training and managing an increasing number of pilots and employees, finding manufacturing capacity to produce our spaceflight systems and related equipment, and delays in production and spaceflights. These difficulties may result in the erosion of our brand image, divert the attention of management and key employees and impact financial and operational results. In addition, in order to continue to expand our fleet of spacecraft and increase our presence around the globe, we expect to incur substantial expenses as we continue to attempt to streamline our manufacturing process, increase our flight cadence, hire more employees, and continue research and development efforts relating to new products and technologies and expand internationally. If we are unable to drive commensurate growth, these costs, which include lease commitments, headcount and capital assets,

Because our business is currently concentrated on a single, discretionary product category, commercial human spaceflight, we are vulnerable to changes in consumer preferences or other market changes. The global economy has in the past, and will in the future, experience recessionary periods and periods of economic instability.instability, including the current business disruption and related financial impact resulting from the global COVID-19 health crisis. During such periods, our future astronauts may be more inclined to have us refund their deposits with us, and our potential future astronauts may choose not to make discretionary purchases or may reduce overall spending on discretionary

We are at risk of adverse publicity stemming from any public incident involving our company, our people or our brand. If our personnel or one of our spaceflight systems, or the personnel or spacecraft of one of our competitors or the personnel or aircraft of a commercial airline or governmental agency, were to be involved in a public incident, accident or catastrophe this could create an adverse public perception of spaceflight and result in decreased customer demand for spaceflight experiences, which could cause a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions and results of operations. Further, if our personnel or our spaceflight systems were to be involved in a public incident, accident or catastrophe, we could be exposed to significant reputational harm or potential legal liability. Any reputational harm to our business could cause future astronauts with existing reservations to cancel their spaceflights and could significantly impact our ability to make future sales. The insurance we carry may be inapplicable or inadequate to cover any such incident, accident or catastrophe. In the event that our insurance is inapplicable or not adequate, we may be forced to bear substantial losses from an incident or accident.

Human spaceflight is an inherently risky activity that can lead to accidents or catastrophes impacting human life. For example, on October 31, 2014, VSS Enterprise, an earlier model of SpaceShipTwo manufactured and operated by a third-party contractor, had an accident during a rocket-powered test flight. The pilot was seriously injured, the co-pilot was fatally injured and the vehicle was destroyed. As part of its 2015 accident investigation report, the National Transportation Safety Board (the “NTSB”) determined that the probable cause of the accident related to the failure by a third-party contractor to consider and protect against the possibility that a single human error could result in a catastrophic hazard to the vehicle. After the accident, we assumed responsibility for the completion of the flight test program and submitted a report to the NTSB that listed the actions we were taking for reducing the likelihood and effect of human error. This included modification of the feather lock control mechanism to add automatic inhibits that would prevent inadvertent operation during safety critical periods of flight. We have implemented and repeatedly demonstrated the efficacy of these actions, including implementing more rigorous protocols and procedures for safety-critical aircrew actions, requiring additional training for pilots that focuses on response protocols for safety critical actions, and eliminating certain single-point human performance actions that could potentially lead to similar accidents. We believe the steps we have taken are sufficient to address the issues

Prior to the Virgin Galactic Business Combination, we financed our operations and capital expenditures primarily through cash flows financed by Vieco 10. In the future, we could be required to raise capital through public or private financing or other arrangements. Such financing may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all, and our failure to raise capital when needed could harm our business. For example, the global COVID-19 health crisis and related financial impact has resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant disruption and volatility of global financial markets that could adversely impact our ability to access capital. We may sell equity securities or debt securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner as we may determine from time to time. If we sell any such securities in subsequent transactions, our current investors may be materially diluted. Any debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants and could reduce our operational flexibility or profitability. If we cannot raise funds on acceptable terms, we may not be able to grow our business or respond to competitive pressures.

As part of our growth strategy, we may utilize additional spaceports outside the United States. Construction of a spaceport or other facilities in which we conduct our operations may require significant capital expenditures to develop, and in the future we may be required to make similar expenditures to expand, improve or construct adequate facilities for our spaceflight operations. While Spaceport America was funded by the State of New Mexico and we intend to pursue similar arrangements in the future, we cannot assure that such arrangements will be available to us on terms similar to those we have with the State of New Mexico or at all. If we cannot secure such an arrangement, we would need to use cash flows from operations or raise additional capital in order to construct additional spaceports or facilities. In addition, as Spaceport America and any other facilities we may utilize mature, our business will require capital expenditures for the maintenance, renovation and improvement of such existing locations to remain competitive and maintain the value of our brand standard. This creates an ongoing need for capital, and, to the extent we cannot fund capital expenditures from cash flows from operations, we will need to borrow or otherwise obtain funds. If we cannot access the capital we need, we may not be able to execute on our growth strategy, take advantage of future opportunities or respond to competitive pressures. If the costs of funding new locations or renovations or enhancements at existing locations exceed budgeted amounts or the time for building or renovation is longer than anticipated, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Our ability to produce our current and future spaceflight systems and other components of operation is dependent upon sufficient availability of raw materials and supplied components, such as nitrous oxide, valves, tanks, special alloys, helium and carbon fiber, which we secure from a limited number of suppliers. Our reliance on suppliers to secure these raw materials and supplied components exposes us to volatility in the prices and availability of these materials. We may not be able to obtain sufficient supply of raw materials or supplied components, on favorable terms or at all, which could result in delays in manufacture of our spacecraft or increased costs. For example, there are only a few nitrous oxide plants around the world and if one or more of these plants were to experience a slowdown in operations or to shutdown entirely, including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, we may need to qualify new suppliers or pay higher prices to maintain the supply of nitrous oxide needed for our operations.

In addition, we have in the past and may in the future experience delays in manufacture or operation as we go through the requalification process with any replacement third-party supplier, as well as the limitations imposed by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and other restrictions on transfer of sensitive technologies.

Our growth strategy depends in part on the continued operation of our current spaceflight system and related equipment, as well as the manufacture of other spaceflight systems in the future. Each spaceflight system has a limited useful life, which is driven by the number of cycles that the system undertakes. While the vehicle is designed for a certain number of cycles, known as the design life, there can be no assurance as to the actual operational life of a spaceflight system or that the operational life of individual components will be consistent with its design life. A number of factors impact the useful lives of the spaceflight systems, including, among other things, the quality of their design and construction, the durability of their component parts and availability of any replacement components, the actual combined environment experienced compared to the assumed combined environment for which the spaceflight systems were designed and tested and the occurrence of any anomaly or series of anomalies or other risks affecting the spaceflight systems during launch, flight and reentry. In addition, we are continually learning, and as our engineering and manufacturing expertise and efficiency increases, we aim to leverage this learning to be able to manufacture our spaceflight systems and related equipment using less of our currently installed equipment, which could render our existing inventory obsolete. Any continued improvements in spaceflight technology may make obsolete our existing spaceflight systems or any component of our spacecraft prior to the end of its life. If the spaceflight systems and related equipment have shorter useful lives than we currently anticipate, this may lead to greater maintenance costs than previously anticipated such that the cost to maintain the spacecraft and related equipment may exceed their value, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are dependent on various third-party contractors to develop and provide critical technology, systems and components required for our spaceflight system. For example, each spaceflight currently requires replenishment of certain components of our RocketMotorTwo (as defined below) propulsion system that we obtain from third-party contractors. Should we experience complications with any of these components, which are critical to the operation of our spacecraft, we may need to delay or cancel scheduled spaceflights. We face the risk that any of our contractors may not fulfill their contracts and deliver their products or services on a timely basis, or at all. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, operational complications with our contractors. The ability of our contractors to effectively satisfy our requirements could also be impacted by such contractors’ financial difficulty or damage to their operations caused by fire, terrorist attack, natural disaster, pandemic, such as the current COVID-19 outbreak, or other events. The failure of any contractors to perform to our expectations could result in shortages of certain manufacturing or operational components for our spacecraft or delays in spaceflights and harm our business. Our reliance on contractors and inability to fully control any operational difficulties with our third-party contractors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The commercial spaceflight industry is still developing and evolving, but we expect it to be highly competitive. Currently, our primary competitor in establishing a commercial suborbital spaceflight offering is Blue Origin, a privately funded company founded in 2000. In addition, we are aware of several large, well-funded, public and private entities actively engaged in developing products within the aerospace industry, including SpaceX and

Many of our current and potential competitors are larger and have substantially greater resources than we have and expect to have in the future. They may also be able to devote greater resources to the development of their current and future technologies or the promotion and sale of their offerings, or offer lower prices. Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative or strategic relationships amongst themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources and offerings. Further, it is possible that domestic or foreign companies or governments, some with greater experience in the aerospace industry or greater financial resources than we possess, will seek to provide products or services that compete directly or indirectly with ours in the future. Any such foreign competitor, for example, could benefit from subsidies from, or other protective measures by, its home country.

We believe our ability to compete successfully as a commercial provider of human spaceflight does and will depend on a number of factors, which may change in the future due to increased competition, including the price of our offerings, consumer confidence in the safety of our offerings, consumer satisfaction for the experiences we offer, and the frequency and availability of our offerings. If we are unable to compete successfully, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

While our primary focus for the foreseeable future will be on commercializing human spaceflight, we may invest significant resources in developing new technologies, services, products and offerings. However, we may not realize the expected benefits of these investments. In addition, we expect to explore the application of our proprietary technologies for other commercial and government uses, including, among other things, supersonic and hypersonic point-to-point travel. These anticipated technologies, however, are unproven and these products or technologies may never materialize or be commercialized in a way that would allow us to generate ancillary revenue streams. Relatedly, if such technologies become viable offerings in the future, we may be subject to competition from our competitors within the commercial spaceflight industry, some of which may have substantially greater monetary and knowledge resources than we have and expect to have in the future to devote to the development of these technologies. Further, under the terms of an amended and restated trademark license agreement (the “Amended TMLA”), our ability to operationalize some of the technologies may be dependent upon the consent of Virgin Enterprises Limited (“VEL”). Such competition or any limitations on our ability to take advantage of such technologies could impact our market share, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Such research and development initiatives may also have a high degree of risk and involve unproven business strategies and technologies with which we have limited operating or development experience. They may involve claims and liabilities (including, but not limited to, personal injury claims), expenses, regulatory challenges and other risks that we may not be able to anticipate. There can be no assurance that consumer demand for such initiatives will exist or be sustained at the levels that we anticipate, or that any of these initiatives will gain sufficient traction or market acceptance to generate sufficient revenue to offset any new expenses or liabilities associated with these new investments. Further, any such research and development efforts could distract management from current operations, and would divert capital and other resources from our more established offerings and technologies. Even if we were to be successful in developing new products, services, offerings or technologies, regulatory authorities may subject us to new rules or restrictions in response to our innovations that may increase our expenses or prevent us from successfully commercializing new products, services, offerings or technologies.

We possess certain exclusive and non-exclusive rights to use the name and brand “Virgin Galactic” and the Virgin signature logo pursuant to the Amended TMLA. We believe the “Virgin” brand is integral to our corporate

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to protect our proprietary intellectual property rights, including certain methodologies, practices, tools, technologies and technical expertise we utilize in designing, developing, implementing and maintaining applications and processes used in our spaceflight systems and related technologies. To date, we have relied primarily on trade secrets and other intellectual property laws, non-disclosure agreements with our employees, consultants and other relevant persons and other measures to protect our intellectual property, and intend to continue to rely on these and other means, including patent protection, in the future. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may be inadequate, and we may choose not to pursue or maintain protection for our intellectual property in the United States or foreign jurisdictions. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our technology and use information that we regard as proprietary to create technology that competes with ours.

Further, the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights in some foreign countries may be inadequate. To the extent we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our technologies and proprietary information may increase. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon, misappropriating or otherwise violating our technology and intellectual property.

We rely in part on trade secrets, proprietary know-how and other confidential information to maintain our competitive position. Although we enter into non-disclosure and invention assignment agreements with our employees, enter into non-disclosure agreements with our future astronauts, consultants and other parties with whom we have strategic relationships and business alliances and enter into intellectual property assignment agreements with our consultants and vendors, no assurance can be given that these agreements will be effective in controlling access to and distribution of our technology and proprietary information. Further, these agreements do not prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our products.

We rely on licenses from third parties for certain intellectual property that is critical to our branding and corporate identity, as well as the technology used in our spacecraft. Termination of our current or future license agreements could cause us to have to negotiate new or restated agreements with less favorable terms or cause us to lose our rights under the original agreements.

In the case of our branding, we will not own the Virgin brand or any other Virgin-related assets, as we will license the right to use the Virgin brand pursuant to the Amended TMLA. Virgin controls the Virgin brand, and the integrity and strength of the Virgin brand will depend in large part on the efforts and businesses of Virgin and the other licensees of the Virgin brand and how the brand is used, promoted and protected by them, which will be outside of our control. For example, negative publicity or events affecting or occurring at Virgin or other entities

In addition, there are certain circumstances under which the Amended TMLA may be terminated in its entirety, including our material breach of the Amended TMLA (subject to a cure period, if applicable), our insolvency, our improper use of the Virgin brand, our failure to commercially launch a spaceflight for paying passengers by a specified date, if we are unable to undertake any commercial flights for paying passengers for a specified period (other than in connection with addressing a significant safety issue), and our undergoing of a change of control to an unsuitable buyer, including a competitor of VEL’s group. Termination of the Amended TMLA would eliminate our rights to use the Virgin brand and may result in our having to negotiate a new or reinstated agreement with less favorable terms or cause us to lose our rights under the Amended TMLA, including our right to use the Virgin brand, which would require us to change our corporate name and undergo other significant rebranding efforts. These rebranding efforts may require significant resources and expenses and may affect our ability to attract and retain future astronauts, all of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, contracts, financial condition, operating results, liquidity and prospects.

In the case of a loss of technology used in our spaceflight systems, we may not be able to continue to manufacture certain components for our spacecraft or for our operations or may experience disruption to our manufacturing processes as we test and requalify any potential replacement technology. Even if we retain the licenses, the licenses may not be exclusive with respect to such component design or technologies, which could aid our competitors and have a negative impact on our business.

Our success depends in part upon successful prosecution, maintenance, enforcement and protection of our owned and licensed intellectual property, including the Virgin brand and other intellectual property that we license from Virgin under the Amended TMLA. Under the terms of the Amended TMLA, Virgin has the primary right to take actions to obtain, maintain, enforce and protect the Virgin brand. If, following our written request, Virgin elects not take an action to maintain, enforce or protect the Virgin brand, we may do so, at our expense, subject to various conditions including that so long as doing so would not have a material adverse effect on Virgin, any of Virgin’s other licensees or the Virgin brand and we reasonably believe failing to do so would materially adversely affect our business. Should Virgin determine not to maintain, enforce or protect the Virgin brand, we and/or the Virgin brand could be materially harmed and we could incur substantial cost if we elect to take any such action.

To protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect these rights. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and to protect our trade secrets. Such litigation could be costly, time consuming and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could disrupt our business, as well as have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. The results of intellectual property litigation are difficult to predict and may require us to stop using certain technologies or offering certain services or may result in significant damage awards or settlement costs. There is no guarantee that any action to defend, maintain or enforce our owned or licensed intellectual property rights will be successful, and an adverse result in any such proceeding could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

In addition, we may from time to time face allegations that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights of third parties, including the intellectual property rights of our competitors. We may be unaware of the intellectual property rights that others may claim cover some or all of our technology or services. Irrespective of the validity of any such claims, we could incur significant costs and diversion of resources in defending against them, and there is no guarantee any such defense would be successful, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, contracts, financial condition, operating results, liquidity and prospects.

We derive limited revenue from contracts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) and the U.S. government and may enter into furtheradditional contracts with the U.S. or foreign governments in the future, and this subjects us to statutes and regulations applicable to companies doing business with the government, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation. These government contracts customarily contain provisions that give the government substantial rights and remedies, many of which are not typically found in commercial contracts and which are unfavorable to contractors. For instance, most U.S. government agencies include provisions that allow the government to unilaterally terminate or modify contracts for convenience, and in that event, the counterparty to the contract may generally recover only its incurred or committed costs and settlement expenses and profit on work completed prior to the termination. If the government terminates a contract for default, the defaulting party may be liable for any extra costs incurred by the government in procuring undelivered items from another source.

Some of our federal government contracts are subject to the approval of appropriations being made by the U.S. Congress to fund the expenditures under these contracts. In addition, government contracts normally contain additional requirements that may increase our costs of doing business, reduce our profits, and expose us to liability for failure to comply with these terms and conditions. These requirements include, for example:

Government contracts are also generally subject to greater scrutiny by the government, which can initiate reviews, audits and investigations regarding our compliance with government contract requirements. In addition, if we fail to comply with government contract laws, regulations and contract requirements, our contracts may be subject to termination, and we may be subject to financial and/or other liability under our contracts, the Federal Civil False Claims Act (including treble damages and other penalties), or criminal law. In particular, the False Claims Act’s “whistleblower” provisions also allow private individuals, including present and former employees, to sue on behalf of the U.S. government. Any penalties, damages, fines, suspension, or damages could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results.

As part of our growth strategy, we may leverage our initial U.S. operations to expand internationally. In that event, we expect that we would be subject to additional risks related to entering into international business relationships, including:

We are subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations relating to various aspects of our business, including with respect to our spaceflight system operations, employment and labor, health care, tax, privacy and data security, health and safety, and environmental issues. Laws and regulations at the foreign, federal, state and local levels frequently change, especially in relation to new and emerging industries, and we cannot always reasonably predict the impact from, or the ultimate cost of compliance with, current or future regulatory or administrative changes. We monitor these developments and devote a significant amount of management’s time and external resources towards compliance with these laws, regulations and guidelines, and such compliance places a significant burden on management’s time and other resources, and it may limit our ability to expand into certain jurisdictions. Moreover, changes in law, the imposition of new or additional regulations or the enactment of any new or more stringent legislation that impacts our business could require us to change the way we operate and could have a material adverse effect on our sales, profitability, cash flows and financial condition.

Failure to comply with these laws, such as with respect to obtaining and maintaining licenses, certificates, authorizations and permits critical for the operation of our business, may result in civil penalties or private lawsuits, or the suspension or revocation of licenses, certificates, authorizations or permits, which would prevent us from operating our business. For example, commercial space launches, reentry of our spacecraft and the operation of our spaceflight system in the United States require licenses and permits from certain agencies of the Department of Transportation, including the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (the “FAA”), and review by other agencies of the U.S. Government, including the Department of Defense, Department of State, NASA, and the Federal Communications Commission. License approval includes an interagency review of safety, operational, national security, and foreign policy and international obligations implications, as well as a review of foreign ownership. In 2016, the FAA granted us our commercial space launch license with a limited number of verification and validation steps that we must complete before we can include future astronauts on our spaceflights. While we are in the process of completing those steps, which includes submission to the FAA of final integrated vehicle performance results conducted in an operational flight environment, delays in FAA action allowing us to conduct spaceflights with future astronauts on board imposed by the agency could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results.

Additionally, the FAA and other state government agencies also enforce informed consent and cross-waiver requirements for spaceflight participants and have the authority to regulate training and medical requirements for crew. Certain related federal and state laws provide for indemnification or immunity in the event of certain losses. However, this indemnification is subject to limits, and money to be used for indemnification under federal laws is still subject to appropriation by Congress. Furthermore, no such claim regarding the immunity provided by these informed consent provisions has been brought in New Mexico or in federal courts, and we are unable to determine whether the protections provided by applicable laws or regulations would be upheld by U.S. or foreign courts.

Our business is subject to stringent U.S. import and export control laws and regulations as well as economic sanctions laws and regulations. We are required to import and export our products, software, technology and services, as well as run our operations in the United States, in full compliance with such laws and regulations, which include the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, ITAR, and economic sanctions administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls. Similar laws that impact our business exist in other jurisdictions. These foreign trade controls prohibit, restrict, or regulate our ability to, directly or indirectly, export, deemed export, re-export, deemed re-export or transfer certain hardware, technical data, technology, software, or services to certain countries and territories, entities, and individuals, and for end uses. If we are found to be in violation of these laws and regulations, it could result in civil and criminal liabilities, monetary and non-monetary penalties, the loss of export or import privileges, debarment and reputational harm.

Pursuant to these foreign trade control laws and regulations, we are required, among other things, to (i) maintain a registration under ITAR, (ii) determine the proper licensing jurisdiction and export classification of products, software, and technology, and (iii) obtain licenses or other forms of U.S. government authorization to engage in the conduct of our spaceflight business. The authorization requirements include the need to get permission to release controlled technology to foreign person employees and other foreign persons. Changes in U.S. foreign trade control laws and regulations, or reclassifications of our products or technologies, may restrict our operations. The inability to secure and maintain necessary licenses and other authorizations could negatively impact our ability to compete successfully or to operate our spaceflight business as planned. Any changes in the export control regulations or U.S. government licensing policy, such as those necessary to implement U.S. government commitments to multilateral control regimes, may restrict our operations. Given the great discretion the government has in issuing or denying such authorizations to advance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, there can be no assurance we will be successful in our future efforts to secure and maintain necessary licenses, registrations, or other U.S. government regulatory approvals.

We collect, store, process, and use personal information and other customer data, including medical information, and we rely in part on third parties that are not directly under our control to manage certain of these operations and to collect, store, process and use payment information. Due to the volume and sensitivity of the personal information and data we and these third parties manage and expect to manage in the future, as well as the nature of our customer base, the security features of our information systems are critical. A variety of federal, state and foreign laws and regulations govern the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of this information. Laws

We expect that new industry standards, laws and regulations will continue to be proposed regarding privacy, data protection and information security in many jurisdictions, including the European e-Privacy Regulation, which is currently in draft form. We cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business. Complying with these evolving obligations is costly. For instance, expanding definitions and interpretations of what constitutes “personal data” (or the equivalent) within the United States, the European Economic Area (the “EEA”) and elsewhere may increase our compliance costs and legal liability.

As we have expanded our international presence, we are also subject to additional privacy rules, many of which, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) and national laws supplementing the GDPR, such as in the United Kingdom, are significantly more stringent than those currently enforced in the United States. The law requires companies to meet stringent requirements regarding the handling of personal data of individuals located in the EEA. These more stringent requirements include expanded disclosures to inform future astronauts about how we may use their personal data through external privacy notices, increased controls on profiling future astronauts and increased rights for data subjects (including future astronauts and employees) to access, control and delete their personal data. In addition, there are mandatory data breach notification requirements. The law also includes significant penalties for non-compliance, which may result in monetary penalties of up to the higher of €20.0 million or 4% of a group’s worldwide turnover for the preceding financial year for the most serious violations. The GDPR and other similar regulations require companies to give specific types of notice and informed consent is required for the placement of a cookie or similar technologies on a user’s device for online tracking for behavioral advertising and other purposes and for direct electronic marketing, and the GDPR also imposes additional conditions in order to satisfy such consent, such as a prohibition on pre-checked tick boxes and bundled consents, thereby requiring future astronauts to affirmatively consent for a given purpose through separate tick boxes or other affirmative action.

A significant data breach or any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any federal, state or foreign privacy or consumer protection-related laws, regulations or other principles or orders to which we may be subject or other legal obligations relating to privacy or consumer protection could adversely affect our reputation, brand and business, and may result in claims, investigations, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others or other penalties or liabilities or require us to change our operations and/or cease using certain data sets. Depending on the nature of the information compromised, we may also have obligations to notify users, law enforcement or payment companies about the incident and may need to provide some form of remedy, such as refunds, for the individuals affected by the incident.

If our main data centerand network infrastructure were to fail, or if we were to suffer an interruption or degradation of services atin our main data center, third-party cloud, and other infrastructure environments, we could lose important manufacturing and technical data, which could harm our business. Our facilities, as well as the facilities of third-parties that maintain or have access to our data or network infrastructure, are vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, cyber security attacks, terrorist attacks, power losses, telecommunications failures and similar events. In the event that our or any third-party provider’s systems or service abilities are hindered by any of the events discussed above, our ability to operate may be impaired. A decision to close the facilities without adequate notice, or other unanticipated problems, could adversely impact our operations. Any of the aforementioned risks may be augmented if our or any third-party provider’s business continuity and disaster recovery plans prove to be inadequate. The facilitiesOur data center, third-party cloud, and managed service provider infrastructure also could be subject to break-ins, computer viruses,cyber attacks, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism and other misconduct.misconduct, from a spectrum of actors ranging in sophistication from threats common to most industries to more advanced and persistent, highly organized adversaries. Any security

We use complex proprietary software in our technology infrastructure, which we seek to continually update and improve. Replacing such systems is often time-consuming and expensive, and can also be intrusive to daily business operations. Further, we may not always be successful in executing these upgrades and improvements, which may occasionally result in a failure of our systems. We may experience periodic system interruptions from time to time. Any slowdown or failure of our underlying technology infrastructure could harm our business, reputation and ability to acquire and serve our future astronauts, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations. Our disaster recovery plan or those of our third-party providers may be inadequate, and our business interruption insurance may not be sufficient to compensate us for the losses that could occur.

Our success depends, in significant part, on the continued services of our senior management team and on our ability to attract, motivate, develop and retain a sufficient number of other highly skilled personnel, including pilots, manufacturing and quality assurance, engineering, design, finance, marketing, sales and support personnel. Our senior management team has extensive experience in the aerospace industry, and we believe that their depth of experience is instrumental to our continued success. The loss of any one or more members of our senior management team, for any reason, including resignation or retirement, could impair our ability to execute our business strategy and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Competition for qualified highly skilled personnel can be strong, and we can provide no assurance that we will be successful in attracting or retaining such personnel now or in the future. We have not yet started commercial spaceflight operations, and our estimates of the required team size to support our estimated flight rates may require increases in staffing levels that may require significant capital expenditure. Further, any inability to recruit, develop and retain qualified employees may result in high employee turnover and may force us to pay significantly higher wages, which may harm our profitability. Additionally, we do not carry key man insurance for any of our management executives, and the loss of any key employee or our inability to recruit, develop and retain these individuals as needed, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time, we may evaluate potential strategic acquisitions of businesses, including partnerships or joint ventures with third parties. We may not be successful in identifying acquisition, partnership and joint venture candidates. In addition, we may not be able to continue the operational success of such businesses or successfully finance or integrate any businesses that we acquire or with which we form a partnership or joint venture. We may have potential write-offs of acquired assets and/or an impairment of any goodwill recorded as a result of acquisitions. Furthermore, the integration of any acquisition may divert management’s time and resources from our core business and disrupt our operations or may result in conflicts with our business. Any acquisition, partnership or joint venture may not be successful, may reduce our cash reserves, may negatively affect our earnings and financial

Our operations are subject to many hazards and operational risks inherent to our business, including general business risks, product liability and damage to third parties, our infrastructure or properties that may be caused by fires, floods and other natural disasters, power losses, telecommunications failures, terrorist attacks, human errors and similar events. Additionally, our manufacturing operations are hazardous at times and may expose us to safety risks, including environmental risks and health and safety hazards to our employees or third parties.

Moreover, our commercial spaceflight operations were recently moved to operate entirely out of a single facility, Spaceport America, in New Mexico, and our manufacturing operations are based in Mojave, California. Any significant interruption due to any of the above hazards and operational to the manufacturing or operation of our spaceflight systems at one of our primary facilities, including from weather conditions, growth constraints, performance by third-party providers (such as electric, utility or telecommunications providers), failure to properly handle and use hazardous materials, failure of computer systems, power supplies, fuel supplies, infrastructure damage, disagreements with the owners of the land on which our facilities are located, or damage sustained to our runway could result in manufacturing delays or the delay or cancellation of our spaceflights and, as a result, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, Spaceport America is run by a state agency, the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, and there may be delays or impacts to operations due to considerations unique to doing business with a government agency. For example, governmental agencies often have an extended approval process for service contracts, which may result in delays or limit the timely operation of our Spaceport America facilities.

Moreover, our insurance coverage may be inadequate to cover our liabilities related to such hazards or operational risks. In addition, passenger insurance may not be accepted or may be prohibitive to procure. Moreover, we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance in the future at rates we consider reasonable and commercially justifiable, and insurance may not continue to be available on terms as favorable as our current arrangements. The occurrence of a significant uninsured claim, or a claim in excess of the insurance coverage limits maintained by us, could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The occurrence of one or more natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, floods and earthquakes, unusual weather conditions, epidemic or pandemic outbreaks, terrorist attacks or disruptive political events in certain regions where our facilities are located, or where our third-party contractors’ and suppliers’ facilities are located, could adversely affect our business. Natural disasters including tornados, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes may damage our facilities or those of our suppliers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Severe weather, such as rainfall, snowfall or extreme temperatures, may impact the ability for spaceflight to occur as planned, resulting in additional expense to reschedule the operation and customer travel plans, thereby reducing our sales and profitability. Terrorist attacks, actual or threatened acts of war or the escalation of current hostilities, or any other military or trade disruptions impacting our domestic or foreign suppliers of components of our products, may impact our operations by, among other things, causing supply chain disruptions and increases in commodity prices, which could adversely affect our raw materials or transportation costs. These events also could cause or act to prolong an economic recession or depression in the United States or abroad.abroad, such as the current business disruption and related financial impact resulting from the global COVID-19 health crisis. To the extent these events also impact one or more of our suppliers or contractors or result in the closure of any of their facilities or our facilities, we may be unable to maintain spaceflight schedules, provide other support functions to our astronaut experience or fulfill our other contracts. In addition, the disaster recovery and

In connection with the audit of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we identified two material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The first material weakness is related to the lack of a sufficient number of personnel to execute, review and approve all aspects of the financial statement close and reporting process. This material weakness may not allow for us to have proper segregation of duties and the ability to close our books and records and report our results, including required disclosures, on a timely basis. The second material weakness arises from the need to augment our information technology and application controls.

We are in the process of designing and implementing measures to improve our internal control over financial reporting to remediate the material weaknesses, primarily by implementing additional review procedures within our accounting and finance department, hiring additional staff, designing and implementing information technology and application controls in our financially significant systems, and, if appropriate, engaging external accounting experts to supplement our internal resources in our computation and review processes. While we are designing and implementing measures to remediate the material weaknesses, we cannot predict the success of such measures or the outcome of our assessment of these measures at this time. We can give no assurance that these measures will remediate either of the deficiencies in internal control or that additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting will not be identified in the future. Our failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in errors in our financial statements that may lead to a restatement of our financial statements or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations.

As a public company, we are generally required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for each Annual Report on Form 10-K to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), starting with our Annual Report on Form 10-Kannual report for the year ending December 31, 2020. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. Beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2020, our independent registered public accounting firm will also be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We are required to disclose changes made in our internal control and procedures on a quarterly basis. To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we are undertaking, and expect to undertake, various actions, such as implementing new internal controls and procedures and hiring accounting or internal audit staff. Failure to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC, the NYSE or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources.

Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. These fluctuations may occur due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:

The individual or cumulative effects of factors discussed above could result in large fluctuations and unpredictability in our quarterly and annual operating results. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful.

This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet the expectations of industry or financial analysts or investors for any period. If our revenue or operating results fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any guidance we may provide, or if the guidance we provide is below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when we have met any previously publicly stated guidance we may provide.

The historical financial results of the VG Companies included in this prospectus do not reflect the financial condition, results of operations or cash flows we would have achieved as a standalone company during the periods presented or that we will achieve in the future. This is primarily the result of the following factors:

Similarly, our unaudited pro forma financial information in this prospectus is presented for illustrative purposes only. Accordingly, such pro forma financial information may not be indicative of our future operating or financial performance and our actual financial condition and results of operations may vary materially from our pro forma results of operations and balance sheet contained elsewhere in this prospectus.

From time to time, we may become involved in various legal proceedings relating to matters incidental to the ordinary course of our business, including intellectual property, commercial, product liability, employment, class action, whistleblower and other litigation and claims, and governmental and other regulatory investigations and

We are subject to federal, state, local and foreign laws, regulations and ordinances relating to the protection of the environment, including those relating to emissions to the air, discharges to surface and subsurface waters, safe drinking water, greenhouse gases and the management of hazardous substances, oils and waste materials. Federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment may require a current or previous owner or operator of real estate to investigate and remediate hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum product releases at or from the property. Under federal law, generators of waste materials, and current and former owners or operators of facilities, can be subject to liability for investigation and remediation costs at locations that have been identified as requiring response actions. Compliance with environmental laws and regulations can require significant expenditures. In addition, we could incur costs to comply with such current or future laws and regulations, the violation of which could lead to substantial fines and penalties.

We may have to pay governmental entities or third parties for property damage and for investigation and remediation costs that they incurred in connection with any contamination at our current and former properties without regard to whether we knew of or caused the presence of the contaminants. Liability under these laws may be strict, joint and several, meaning that we could be liable for the costs of cleaning up environmental contamination regardless of fault or the amount of waste directly attributable to us. Even if more than one person may have been responsible for the contamination, each person covered by these environmental laws may be held responsible for all of the clean-up costs incurred. Environmental liabilities could arise and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and performance. We do not believe, however, that pending environmental regulatory developments in this area will have a material effect on our capital expenditures or otherwise materially adversely affect its operations, operating costs, or competitive position.

We will be subject to taxes in the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions. Due to economic and political conditions, tax rates in various jurisdictions, including the United States, may be subject to change. Our future effective tax rates could be affected by changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and changes in tax laws or their interpretation. In addition, we may be subject to income tax audits by various tax jurisdictions. Although we believe our income tax liabilities are reasonably estimated and accounted for in accordance with applicable laws and principles, an adverse resolution by one or more taxing authorities could have a material impact on the results of our operations.

As of April 29, 2020, Vieco 10, the Sponsor and the chairman of our board of directors, Chamath Palihapitiya, currently collectively control more than 50% of our common stock and, on account of the voting agreement between those holders included in the stockholders’ agreement entered in connection with the consummation of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination (the “Stockholders’ Agreement”), we are considered a “controlled company” for the purposes of NYSE rules and corporate governance standards. As a controlled company, we are exempt from certain NYSE corporate governance requirements, including those that would otherwise require our board of directors to have a majority of independent directors and require that we either establish compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees, each comprised entirely of independent directors, or otherwise ensure that the

Pursuant to the terms of the Stockholders’ Agreement, we are required to take all necessary action to cause the specified designees of Vieco 10 and Mr. Palihapitiya to be nominated to serve on our board of directors, and each of the holders that is party to the Stockholders’ Agreement is required, among other things, to vote all of our securities held by such party in a manner necessary to elect the individuals designated by such holders. For so long as these parties hold a majority of our common stock, they will be able to control the composition of our board of directors, which in turn will be able to control all matters affecting us, subject to the terms of the Stockholders’ Agreement, including:

Additionally, as of March 31, 2020, Vieco 10 individually controlled shares representing a majority of our total outstanding shares of common stock. Even if Vieco 10 were to control less than a majority of our total outstanding shares of common stock, it will be able to influence the outcome of corporate actions so long as it owns a significant portion of our total outstanding shares of common stock. Specifically, under the terms of the Stockholders’ Agreement, for so long as Vieco 10 continues to beneficially own at least 25% of the shares of our common stock it beneficially owned upon completion of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination, Vieco 10’s consent is required for, among other things:

Furthermore, Vieco 10’s consent is also required for the following, among other things, for so long as Vieco 10 continues to beneficially own at least 10% of the shares of our common stock it beneficially owned upon completion of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination:

Because the interests of these stockholders may differ from our interests or the interests of our other stockholders, actions that these stockholders take with respect to us may not be favorable to us or our other stockholders.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law contain certain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, and therefore depress the trading price of our common stock. These provisions could also make it difficult for stockholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the current members of our board of directors or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in our management. Among other things, our certificate of incorporation and bylaws include provisions regarding:

These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our board of directors or management.

These provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in the certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action.

Our certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, and other than corporate opportunities that are expressly presented to one of our directors in his or her capacity as such, Vieco US and its respective affiliates (including Vieco 10) and Mr. Palihapitiya and his respective affiliates (but in each case, other than us and our officers and employees):

Subject to certain exceptions, pursuant to the registration rights agreement entered in connection with the consummation of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), Vieco 10 is contractually restricted for the first two years following the Virgin Galactic Business Combination from selling or transferring more than 50% of the shares of common stock it received in connection with the Virgin Galactic Business Combination, and the Sponsor is contractually restricted for the first two years following the Virgin Galactic Business Combination from selling or transferring any of the shares of common stock held by it after the Virgin Galactic Business Combination. However, following the expiration of such lockup, neither Vieco 10 nor the Sponsor will be restricted from selling shares of our common stock held by them, other than by applicable securities laws. As such, sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time, including pursuant to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock.

As restrictions on resale end and registration statements for the sale of the shares held by the parties to the Registration Rights Agreement are available for use, including the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, the sale or possibility of sale of these shares could have the effect of increasing the volatility in the market price of our common stock, or decreasing the market price itself.

The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate due to a variety of factors, including:

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Exchange Act requires the filing of annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to a public company’s business and financial condition. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that a public company establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting. As a result, we are incurring, and will continue to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that the VG Companies did not previously incur. Our management team and many of our other employees will need to devote substantial time to compliance, and may not effectively or efficiently manage its transition into a public company.

We can provide no assurance that we will be able to maintain an active trading market for our common stock on the NYSE or any other exchange in the future. If an active market for our common stock is not maintained, or if we fail to satisfy the continued listing standards of the NYSE for any reason and our securities are delisted, it may be difficult for our security holders to sell their securities without depressing the market price for the securities or at all. An inactive trading market may also impair our ability to both raise capital by selling shares of common stock and acquire other complementary products, technologies or businesses by using our shares of common stock as consideration.

The trading market for our common stock is influenced to some extent by the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us and our business. We do not control these analysts, and the analysts who publish information about our common stock may have had relatively little experience with us or our industry, which could affect their ability to accurately forecast our results and could make it more likely that we fail to meet their estimates. In the event we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage, if any of the analysts who cover us provide inaccurate or unfavorable research or issue an adverse opinion regarding our stock price, our stock price could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports covering us regularly, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to finance the further development and expansion of our business and do not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions contained in the Stockholders’ Agreement and future agreements and financing instruments, business prospects and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant.

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning us and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management.

Forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as “achieve,” “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “drive,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “grow,” “improve,” “increase,” “intend,” “may,” “outlook,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” or similar words, phrases or expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following:

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock by the selling stockholders.

Our common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “SPCE”. The actual offering price by the selling stockholders of the shares of common stock covered by this prospectus will be determined by prevailing market prices at the time of sale, by private transactions negotiated by the selling stockholders or as otherwise described in the section entitled “Plan of Distribution.”

Our common stock is currently listed on the NYSE under the symbol “SPCE”. Prior to the consummation of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination, our Class A ordinary shares were listed on the NYSE under the symbol “IPOA”.

On April 30,May 8, 2020, the closing price of our common stock was $17.62.$20.18. As of April 29, 2020, there were 210,403,856 shares of our common stock outstanding, held of record by 118 holders. The number of record holders of our common stock does not include DTC participants or beneficial owners holding shares through nominee names.

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date. Our board of directors may from time to time consider whether or not to institute a dividend policy. It is our present intention to retain any earnings for use in our business operations and, accordingly, we do not anticipate the board of directors declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition. The payment of any cash dividends will be within the discretion of our board of directors. Further, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by the terms of financing or other agreements entered into by us from time to time.

The Virgin Galactic Business Combination was consummated on October 25, 2019. We are providing the following unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information to aid you in your analysis of the financial aspects of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination. The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 gives effect to the Virgin Galactic Business Combination as if it had been consummated on January 1, 2019.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information does not include an unaudited pro forma consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019 as the Virgin Galactic Business Combination is already reflected in our historical audited consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019 included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 was derived from and should be read in conjunction with the historical audited consolidated financial statements of Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (“VGH, Inc.”) as of and for the year ended December 31, 2019 and the accompanying notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. The foregoing historical financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).

The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information should also be read together with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” for the year ended December 31, 2019 included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, the VG Companies merged with and into the Merger Subs in exchange for an aggregate merger consideration payable by Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. (“SCH”) to Vieco US. The VG Companies survived the Mergers as direct wholly owned subsidiaries of SCH and SCH was immediately renamed “Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc.” The aggregate merger consideration payable by SCH to Vieco US under the Merger Agreement was 130,000,000 shares of our common stock at a deemed value of $10.00 per share for an aggregate merger consideration of $1.3 billion.

The Virgin Galactic Business Combination was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with GAAP. Under this method of accounting, SCH has been treated as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes. This determination was primarily based on current shareholders of the VG Companies having a relative majority of the voting power of the combined entity, the operations of the VG Companies prior to the acquisition comprising the only ongoing operations of the combined entity, and senior management of the VG Companies comprising the majority of the senior management of the combined entity. Accordingly, for accounting purposes, the financial statements of the combined entity represent a continuation of the financial statements of the VG Companies with the acquisition being treated as the equivalent of the VG Companies issuing stock for the net assets of SCH, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of SCH were recognized as of the date of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded.

The historical financial statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 has been adjusted to give pro forma effect to events that are (i) related and/or directly attributable to the Virgin Galactic Business Combination, (ii) factually supportable, and (iii) are expected to have a continuing impact on the results of the combined entity. The adjustments in the unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 have been identified and presented to provide relevant information necessary for an accurate understanding of the combined entity upon consummation of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information is for illustrative purposes only. The financial results may have been different had the companies been always been combined. You should not rely on the unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 as being indicative of the

The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information has been prepared to reflect the following:

After giving effect to the redemption of the Class A public shares, the Repurchase, and the Secondary Purchase, shares of our common stock issued and outstanding immediately after the closing of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination were as follows:

The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information is based on the assumption that there are no adjustments for the outstanding public or private placement warrants issued by SCH as such securities were not exercisable until 30 days after the closing of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination.

If the actual facts are different than these assumptions, then the amounts and shares outstanding in the unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information will be different.

The pro forma adjustments have been prepared as if the Virgin Galactic Business Combination had been consummated on January 1, 2019.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information has been prepared assuming the following methods of accounting in accordance with GAAP.

The Virgin Galactic Business Combination was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with GAAP. Accordingly, for accounting purposes, the financial statements of the combined entity represent a continuation of the financial statements of the VG Companies with the acquisition being treated as the equivalent of the VG Companies issuing stock for the net assets of SCH, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of SCH have been stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded.

The pro forma adjustments represent management’s estimates based on information available as of the date of this prospectus and are subject to change as additional information becomes available and additional analyses are performed. Management considers this basis of presentation to be reasonable under the circumstances.

Equity awards granted under the 2019 Plan to executive officers and employees in connection with the closing of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination were 5,912,609 nonqualified stock options and 1,795,209 restricted stock units (“RSUs”). The nonqualified stock options are subject to service-based vesting conditions that are met over a four-year graded vesting period. The RSU awards are subject to service-based and share price-based vesting conditions. The service-based condition for the RSUs granted is met over a four-year graded-vesting period; the share price-based vesting condition for each RSU granted was based at the time of the grant on a $10.00 share price hurdle to be met at each service vesting date, but such condition was removed in April 2020. The grant date fair values of the equity awards were determined based on the fair value of VGH, Inc.’s underlying common stock of $11.79 per share as of the date of the closing of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination using the Black-Scholes option pricing model for the nonqualified stock options and the Monte Carlo simulation model for the RSUs.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated financial information does not include the effect of the outstanding warrants as they were not exercisable upon the close of the Virgin Galactic Business Combination.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 does not reflect the income tax effects of the pro forma adjustments as based on the statutory rate in effect for the period presented. Management believes that income tax adjustments in the unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 to not be meaningful given the combined entity incurred a significant loss during the period presented due to having not yet launched its commercial human spaceflight service.

The unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 reflects the following adjustments:

The consolidated balance sheet data as of March 31, 2020 and consolidated statement of operations data for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 are derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus, and the consolidated balance sheet data and consolidated statement of operation data as of and for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The consolidated balance sheet data as of March 31, 2019 are derived from our consolidated financial statements and related notes not included herein. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America and on the same basis as our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair presentation of our results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 and of our financial position as of March 31, 2020 and 2019. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in the future and results for the three months ended March 31, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year or any other period.

The historical consolidated financial statements include certain expenses of V10,Vieco 10, Galactic Ventures, LLC and VO Holdings, Inc. that were allocated to the VG Companies prior to the Virgin Galactic Business Combination for corporate-related and operating functions based on an allocation methodology that considered the VG Companies’ headcount, unless directly attributable to the business. General corporate overhead expense allocations included tax, accounting and auditing professional fees, and certain employee benefits. Operating expense allocations included use of machinery and equipment and other general administrative expense. The allocations may not, however, reflect the expense the VG Companies would have incurred as an independent company for the periods presented. Actual costs that may have been incurred if the VG Companies had been a stand-alone company would have depended on a number of factors, including the chosen organizational structure, what functions were outsourced or performed by employees and strategic decisions made in areas such as information technology and infrastructure. Subsequent to the Virgin Galactic Business Combination, we perform these functions using our own resources or purchased services.

We are at the vanguard of a new industry, pioneering the commercial exploration of space with reusable spaceflight systems. We believe the commercial exploration of space represents one of the most exciting and important technology initiatives of our time. This industry has begun growing dramatically due to new products, new sources of private and government funding, and new technologies. Demand is emerging from new sectors and demographics. As government space agencies have retired or reduced their own capacity to send humans into space, private companies are beginning to make crucial inroads into the fields of human space exploration. We have embarked into this commercial exploration journey with a mission to put humans into space and return them safely to Earth on a routine and consistent basis. We believe the success of this mission will provide the foundation for a myriad of exciting new industries.

We are a vertically integrated aerospace company pioneering human spaceflight for private individuals and researchers. Our spaceship operations consist of commercial human spaceflight and flying commercial research and development payloads into space. Our operations also include the design and development, manufacturing, ground and flight testing, and post-flight maintenance of our spaceflight vehicles. We focus our efforts in spaceflights using our reusable technology for human tourism and for research and education. We intend to offer our customers, who we also refer to as “future astronauts”, a unique, multi-day experience culminating in a spaceflight that includes several minutes of weightlessness and views of Earth from space. As part of our commercial operations, we have exclusive access to the Gateway to Space facility at Spaceport America located in New Mexico. Spaceport America is the world’s first purpose built commercial spaceport and will be the site of our initial commercial spaceflight operations. We believe the site provides us with a competitive advantage when creating our spaceflight plans as it not only has a desert climate with relatively predictable weather conditions preferable to support our spaceflights, it also has airspace that is restricted for surrounding commercial air traffic that facilitateswill facilitate frequent and consistent flight scheduling.

Our primary mission is to launch the first commercial program for human spaceflight. In December 2018, we made history by flying our groundbreaking spaceship, SpaceShipTwo, to space. This represented the first flight of a spaceflight system built for commercial service to take humans into space. Shortly thereafter, we flew our second spaceflight in SpaceShipTwo in February 2019, and, in addition to the two pilots, carried a crew member in the cabin. Since our December 2018 spaceflight, 7,957more than 9,160 individuals have expressed interest in space travel as of February 23, 2020. We hadApril 29, 2020 and we have also received reservations for more thanapproximately 600 spaceflight tickets and collected more than $80.0 million in future astronaut deposits as of December 31, 2019.April 29, 2020. Additionally, in February 2020, we

We have also developed an extensive set of vertically integrated aerospace development capabilities encompassing preliminary vehicle design and analysis, detail design, manufacturing, ground testing, flight testing, and maintenance of our spaceflight system. Our spaceflight system consists of three primary components: our carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo; our spaceship, SpaceShipTwo; and our hybrid rocket motor.

SpaceShipTwo is a spaceship with the capacity to carry pilots and future astronauts, or commercial research and development payloads, into space and return them safely to Earth. Fundamentally, SpaceShipTwo is a rocket-powered aerospace vehicle that operates more like a plane than a traditional rocket. SpaceShipTwo is powered by a hybrid rocket propulsion system, which we refer to as “RocketMotorTwo”, which propels the spaceship on a trajectory into space. SpaceShipTwo’s cabin has been designed to maximize the future astronaut’s safety, experience and comfort. A dozen windows line the sides and ceiling of the spaceship, offering the future astronauts the ability to view the blackness of space as well as stunning views of the Earth below. Our mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, is a twin-fuselage, custom-built aircraft designed to carry SpaceShipTwo up to an altitude of approximately 45,000 feet where the spaceship is released for its flight into space. Using WhiteKnightTwo’s air launch capability, rather than a standard ground-launch, reduces the energy requirements of our spaceflight system as SpaceShipTwo does not have to rocket its way through the higher density atmosphere closest to the Earth’s surface.

Our team is currently in various stages of designing, testing and manufacturing additional spaceships carrier aircraft and rocket motors in order to meet the expected demand for human spaceflight experiences. Concurrently, we are researching and developing new products and technologies to grow our company. We are developingin the early planning stage to develop and build a second captive carry/launch service that will be featured in our carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo. Such features of the WhiteKnightTwo, along with its ability to carry heavy payloads into high altitudes, offers us a unique market offering for a wide array of future astronautscustomers in the future.

Our operations also include efforts in spaceflight opportunities for research and education. For example, professional researchers have utilized parabolic aircraft and drop towers to create moments of microgravity and conduct significant research activities. In most cases, these solutions offer only seconds of microgravity per flight and do not offer access to the upper atmosphere or space. Other researchers have conducted experiments on sounding rockets or satellites. These opportunities are expensive, infrequent and impose highly limiting operational constraints. We believe that research experiments will benefit from prolonged exposure to space conditions and yield better results aboard SpaceShipTwo due to the large cabin, gentler flight, relatively low cost, advantageous operational parameters, and frequent flights. As such, researchers and educators are able to conduct critical experiments and obtain important data without having to sacrifice time and resources. Our commitment to advancing research and science was present in our December 2018 and February 2019 spaceflights as we transported payloads into space for research purposes under a NASA flight contract.

We have also leveraged our knowledge and expertise in manufacturing spaceships to occasionally perform engineering services for future astronauts,customers, such as research, design, development, manufacturing and integration of advanced technology systems.

We believe that our performance and future success depend on a number of factors that present significant opportunities for us but also pose risks and challenges, including those discussed below and in the section of this prospectus titled “Risk Factors.”

We are in the final phases of developing our commercial spaceflight program. Prior to commercialization, we must complete our test flight program, which includes a rigorous series of ground and flight tests, including our

While not yet in commercial service for human spaceflight, we have already received significant interest from potential future astronauts. Going forward, we expect the size of our backlog and the number of future astronauts that have flown to space on our spaceflight system to be an important indicator of our future performance. As of December 31, 2019,April 29, 2020, we had reservations for SpaceShipTwo flights from more thanfor approximately 600 future astronauts. Since 2014,In February 2020, we have not been actively sellinglaunched our astronaut experience, having establishedOne Small Step campaign which allows interested individuals to place a proof$1,000 refundable registration deposit towards the cost of marketa future ticket once we reopen ticket sales, and in order to focus resources on community management and achieving technological feasibility of our spaceflight system, but as of February 23,April 29, 2020, we had received over 400 One Small Step deposits from 44 countries. As of April 29, 2020, we have also received 7,957more than 9,160 flight reservation inquiries since SpaceShipTwo’s first spaceflight in December 2018.

We face constraints of resources and competing demand for our human spaceflights. We expect to commence commercial operations with a single SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, and a single WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, which together comprise our only spaceflight system. As a result, our annual flight rate will be constrained by the availability and capacity of this spaceflight system. To reduce this constraint, we are in various stages of designing, testing and manufacturing two additional SpaceShipTwo vehicles as well as an additional WhiteKnightTwo carrier.vehicles. We believe that expanding the fleet will allow us to increase our annual flight rate once commercialization is achieved.

Our spaceflight systems are highly specialized with sophisticated and complex technology. We have built operational processes to ensure that the design, manufacture, performance and servicing of our spaceflight systems meet rigorous quality standards. However, our spaceflight systems are still subject to operational and process problems, such as manufacturing and design issues, pilot errors, or cyber-attacks.cyber attacks. Any actual or perceived safety issues may result in significant reputational harm to our business and our ability to generate human spaceflight revenue.

To date, we have primarily generated revenue by transporting scientific commercial research and development payloads using our spaceflight systems and by providing engineering services as a subcontractor to the primary contractor of a long-term contract with the U.S. government. We also have generated revenues from a sponsorship arrangement.

Following the commercial launch of our human spaceflight services, we expect the significant majority of our revenue to be derived from sales of tickets to fly to space. We also expect that we will continue to receive a small portion of our revenue by providing services relating to the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems.

Costs of revenue related to spaceflights include costs related to the consumption of a rocket motor, fuel, payroll and benefits for our pilots and ground crew, and maintenance. Cost of revenue related to the engineering services consist of expenses related to materials and human capital, such as payroll and benefits. Once we have completed our test flight program and commenced commercial operations, we will capitalize the cost to construct any

Gross profit is calculated based on the difference between our revenue and cost of revenue. Gross margin is the percentage obtained by dividing gross profit by our revenue. Our gross profit and gross margin has varied

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of human capital related expenses for employees involved in general corporate functions, including executive management and administration, accounting, finance, tax, legal, information technology, marketing, and human resources; depreciation expense and rent relating to facilities, including the lease with Spaceport America, and equipment; professional fees; and other general corporate costs. Human capital expenses primarily include salaries and benefits. As we continue to grow as a company, we expect that our selling, general and administrative costs will increase on an absolute dollar basis.

We also expect to incur additional expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including expenses necessary to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to companies listed on a national securities exchange and related to compliance and reporting obligations pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC, as well as higher expenses for general and director and officer insurance, investor relations, and professional services.

Research and development expense represents costs incurred to support activities that advance our human spaceflight towards commercialization, including basic research, applied research, concept formulation studies, design, development, and related testing activities. Research and development costs consist primarily of the following costs for developing our spaceflight systems:

As of DecemberMarch 31, 2019,2020, our current primary research and development objectives focus on the development of our SpaceShipTwo vehicles for commercial spaceflights and developing our RocketMotorTwo, a hybrid rocket propulsion system that will be used to propel our SpaceShipTwo vehicles into space. The successful development of SpaceShipTwo and RocketMotorTwo involves many uncertainties, including:

A change in the outcome of any of these variables could delay the development of SpaceShipTwo and RocketMotorTwo, which in turn could impact when we are able to commence our human spaceflights.

As we are currently still in our final development and testing stage of our spaceflight system, we have expensed all research and development costs associated with developing and building our spaceflight system. We expect that our research and development expenses will decrease once technological feasibility is reached for our spaceflight systems as the costs incurred to manufacture additional SpaceShipTwo vehicles, built by leveraging the invested research and development, will no longer qualify as research and development activities.

Interest income consists primarily of interest earned on cash and cash equivalents held by us in interest bearing demand deposit accounts.accounts and cash equivalents.

Interest expense relates to our finance lease obligations.

Other income consists of miscellaneous non-operating items, such as merchandising and legal settlements.

We are subject to income taxes in the United States and the United Kingdom. Our income tax provision consists of an estimate of federal, state, and foreign income taxes based on enacted federal, state, and foreign tax rates, as adjusted for allowable credits, deductions, uncertain tax positions, changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, and changes in tax laws.

The following tables set forth our results of operations for the periods presented and expresses the relationship of certain line items as a percentage of revenue for those periods. The period-to-period comparisons of financial results is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Interest expense was immaterial for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 and for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018.