Abu Dhabi buys stake in Virgin's space venture

28 July 2009

Aabar Investments, an Abu Dhabi government-controlled investor, has announced plans to spend about $280m to buy a 32% stake in the holding company of Virgin Galactic, which plans to start commercial space flights, Bloomberg has reported. Aabar has also committed $100m and transaction costs to fund a small satellite launch capability, the company revealed today in a statement. The 'stake in Virgin Galactic will open a new avenue of opportunity for Abu Dhabi' in the space tourism business, Khadem Al Qubaisi, Aabar's chairman said in the statement.

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