Funding Crisis Sends Virgin Orbit’s Stellar Ambitions Crashing
Updated: Mar 27, 2023
Written by: Katie Scott, Business Reporter Brainz Magazine
Virgin Orbit - the commercial space satellite company, which was spun off from Virgin Galactic, is in rescue talks with investors and planning for insolvency.
Sky News reports that the company has furloughed staff and ceased operations. It is now working with two restructuring firms - Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) and Ducera - on fallback plans “in the event that it cannot secure new funding”. A&M “worked on plans for the administration of Virgin Atlantic Airways as it raced to recapitalise itself during the COVID-19 pandemic”, added the news channel.
The news comes just months after one of the company’s rockets failed to deploy its payload of nine satellites. The mission took place at Spaceport Cornwall in South-West England in January. The 21-metre-long rocket was jettisoned off a converted Boeing 747 named Cosmic Girl over the Atlantic Ocean off Ireland's southern coast. However, a dislodged rocket fuel filter caused the second stage and payloads to fall back to Earth.
A Virgin Orbit spokesperson said last week: "Virgin Orbit is initiating a company-wide operational pause, effective 16 March, 2023, and anticipates providing an update on go-forward operations in the coming weeks. On the ops side, our investigation [into the aborted mission] is nearly complete and our next production rocket with the needed modification incorporated is in the final stages of integration and test."
