Virgin Galactic’s stock soared 13.5% on Wednesday as the company’s WhiteKnightTwo mothership took to the skies for the first time in more than 15 months. The stock rose by $0.71 from its close on Tuesday to close today at $6.01 as news of the flight test from the Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field in California spread on social media.

NASA & DARPA Team to Demonstrate Nuclear Engine

NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are teaming to conduct a demonstration of a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space that could be three times more efficient than conventional chemical propulsion.

Blue Origin Wins NASA Launch Contract

Blue Origin has won a $20 million contract to launch NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission to Mars in late 2024 aboard the company’s as-yet not flown New Glenn rocket.

Welcome to this week’s S-SPACⁱ.

Lunar lander builder Intuitive Machines looks to join the Space SPAC index this week. Shareholders are set to vote on its reverse merger with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. on Wednesday morning. If the deal goes through, the Houston-based company will begin trading on Nasdaq under the symbol LUNR.

After a 15-month overhaul, Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve carrier aircraft is once again basking in the bright sunshine of the Mojave Desert as it prepares for taxi tests today. Follow www.twitter.com/spacecom for updates.