Promise Ledger
Suborbital human spaceflight company. These are the dated public commitments by Virgin Galactic and its people that we could source to a primary, with what happened.
2 entries: 1 met; 1 revised.
Plain counts, not a grade or a ranking. A short record is not a complete one. Updated Sep 28, 2026; each entry shows the date it was last checked against its source; scoring rules on the methodology page.
This first release is a selection, and a short record is not a complete record. Each programme milestone enters the ledger at its earliest dated public commitment we can find in a primary source, for governments and companies alike. Later dated commitments for the same milestone are shown on that one entry as a revision chain, oldest first, rather than as separate entries.
Includes statements by: Michael Colglazier
Met · worded as a target
Service start · Michael Colglazier, CEO, Virgin Galactic · Virgin Galactic
“We remain on track to launch commercial service in the second quarter of 2023”
Said . Source: Virgin Galactic (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1): Virgin Galactic third quarter 2022 financial results release (Nov 3, 2022, CEO quote, first paragraph)
Outcome: Virgin Galactic completed its first commercial spaceflight, Galactic 01, on 2023-06-29. (, on or before the deadline)
Outcome source: Virgin Galactic (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1): Virgin Galactic Announces Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results And Provides Business Update (Aug 1, 2023)
Checked against the source on Sep 26, 2026. Report a correction or send a response to this entry ·
Revised · worded as a target
Service start · Virgin Galactic
“Under the preliminary schedule for the program, the first Delta class spaceship is expected to commence revenue-generating payload flights in late 2025, progressing to private astronaut flights in 2026”
Said . Source: Virgin Galactic (SEC Form 10-Q): Quarterly report for the period ended September 30, 2022 (Nov 3, 2022, Part II, Item 5 (Other Information), Master Agreements with Bell Textron and Qarbon Aerospace, page 42)
Later dated commitments for the same milestone
The counts use the original commitment. The latest date in the chain stands as: pending.
Outcome: No Delta payload flight flew in late 2025. On 2026-08-12 Virgin Galactic said its first ship is now expected to enter commercial service in February 2027 rather than the fourth quarter of 2026; the same release lists a captive carry flight in October 2026 as the start of the flight test phase.
Outcome source: Virgin Galactic (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1): Virgin Galactic second quarter 2026 financial results release (Aug 12, 2026)
Checked against the source on Sep 26, 2026. Report a correction or send a response to this entry ·
Open data: download the whole ledger (CSV, CC BY 4.0). Archived on Zenodo, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22985970. How entries are scored: methodology. No sponsor, advertiser or partner can add, remove, reorder, annotate or preview an entry, and these pages carry no advertising.
Cite as: SpaceNexus. (2026). SpaceNexus Promise Ledger (Version 2026-09-28) [Data set]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22985970. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
The whole Promise Ledger, with every organisation and person, and the topic trackers.
Week in Space Data, every Friday.