Leave it to billionaire Richard Branson to bookend the latest phenomenon in aerospace business. Having helped usher in the current wave of young space companies going public quickly when his Virgin Galactic rocketed to fame and fortune in October 2019, Virgin Orbit's disappointing public debut Dec. 30, 2021, likely indicates more sobering times ahead for space SPACs.SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, are publicly traded shell companies that buy operating businesses such as the Virgin assets and make them a tradable asset on major stock exchanges. In 2020-21, the phenomenon took off in aerospace, with around a dozen new-space companies and a half-dozen advanced air mobility businesses taking advantage of the expedited access to public markets (see page 36) (AWST Aug. 30-Sept. 12, 2021, p. 18).
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