Virgin Galactic launches (on the New York stock exchange)

Public investors can now buy shares in Sir Richard Branson's space tourism venture

Virgin Galactic has become the first publicly traded space tourism company as Sir Richard Branson's venture prepares to take its first paying customers beyond the confines of the planet.

Investors can buy shares under the stock market ticker symbol "SPCE" in the company, which is betting enough wealthy tourists will pay the $250,000 (195,000) ticket price to make a return on investments in the ambitious business that have run into hundreds of millions of dollars.