Facebook willing to spend up to $1 billion on content, Snapchat to add college newspapers to Discover channel, and Virgin Galactic nears powered test flights of tourist Spaceship.

Facebook Willing to Spend Up to $1 Billion on Content

Facebook is willing to spend as much as $1 billion to cultivate original shows for its social media platform, reports The Wall Street Journal. The investment would far outpace Facebook’s previous outlays on video content, including its live-video deals last year, and would likely benefit content producers in Los Angeles.

Snapchat to Add College Newspapers to Discover Channel

Snap Inc. is bringing dozens of college newspapers inside Discover, the section of the Snapchat app reserved for professionally produced videos and news articles from an exclusive list of publishing partners, reports Recode. The student papers will create what Snap is calling a Campus Publisher Story, which should look similar to the magazine-style editions that existing partners like BuzzFeed and ESPN already create daily.

Virgin Galactic Nears Powered Test Flights of Tourist Spaceship

The chief executive of Virgin Galactic said Sept. 7 that the company’s second suborbital spaceplane was “at the edge” of beginning powered test flights, after at least one more glide flight, reports Space News. The sixth glide flight of the SpaceShipTwo took place Aug. 4 and, at the time, the company called the flight “essentially a dry run for rocket-powered flights.”

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.