Virgin Orbit

Main article: Cosmonautics of Britain

History

2023

Reasons for bankruptcy

On May 24, 2023, information appeared about the reasons for the bankruptcy of Virgin Orbit as part of the international conglomerate Virgin Group, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson.

According to ArsTechnica, Virgin Orbit's problems are related to an irrational business plan. It is said that the company's engineering team did an excellent job, but management errors and inappropriate decisions led to a lack of funds, and it was not possible to find a new source of money. LauncherOne Boeing 747 About $1 billion was spent on the creation of an air launch launch vehicle and a system for launching it from an airplane. However, already in 2020 it became clear that it would never be possible to return these funds - one launch of LauncherOne was estimated at $12- $15 million.

LauncherOne Raketa carrier

In addition, an excessively large staff of approximately 700 employees had a negative impact on Virgin Orbit's business operations. The cost of their wages and other payments reached $150 million per year. Moreover, this figure does not take into account the costs of office space, rent, equipment, etc. Assuming that the profit could be $10 million per LauncherOne launch, the company would have to organize about 30 starts a year to break even.

It was not possible to solve financial problems by going public: instead of the planned $383 million, Virgin Orbit was able to attract only $68 million. As a result, private investors had to be contacted to continue their activities.

The problem was Virgin Orbit's leadership, including chief executive Dan Hart and founder Sir Richard Branson. The company had a terrible business plan, and the inefficient management was aggravated by the excess number of workers, the ArsTechnica publication said.[1]

Company files for bankruptcy

On March 30, 2023, it was announced that Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. Richard Branson goes out of business indefinitely, after failing to find funding.

The company is cutting 675 jobs, or about 85% of its workforce, "to reduce costs in light of the company's failure to provide significant funding." A Virgin Orbit spokesman said the remaining 15% of staff would work to wind down the business.

In early April 2023, it was announced that Virgin Orbit had filed for bankruptcy.

Sending all employees on unpaid leave after failed attempt to launch satellites

On March 15, 2023, it became known that Virgin Orbit, part of British businessman Richard Branson's international conglomerate Virgin Group, was forced to suspend work and send almost all employees on unpaid leave.

According to CNBC, citing information received from knowledgeable persons, Virgin Orbit has financial difficulties. Chief executive Dan Hart told employees that leave without pay was a necessary measure: it would give the company time to finalise a new investment plan that would help Virgin Orbit solve existing problems. The duration of unpaid leave has not yet been determined, but Hart said that by March 22-23, 2023, the company will provide employees with updated information on when they can return to their duties.

Virgin Orbit put staff on unpaid leave ahead of new investment plan

Virgin Orbit will initiate a company-wide operational pause from March 16, 2023 and expects to provide updated information on further operations in the coming weeks, company officials said.

The report of financial difficulties followed after in January 2023 Virgin Orbit failed to launch its LauncherOne rocket from Britain from an upgraded Boeing 747 aircraft. As the investigation showed, the failure was associated with a filter in the fuel pipe of the upper stage of the carrier, the displacement of which provoked an engine malfunction. As a result, nine satellites were lost. The company says that the investigation into this incident is almost complete, and Virgin Orbit is preparing for a new launch.

Our next production rocket with the necessary modifications is in the final stages of integration and testing, "said a Virgin Orbit spokesman.[2]

Failure of the first satellite launch from Britain

The first ever launch of a space satellite from Britain, on a Virgin Orbit launch vehicle of businessman Richard Branson, ended unsuccessfully in January 2023.

The Raketa carrier launched from the Boeing-747 was unable to put the vehicles into orbit.

2021

The withdrawal agreement on NASDAQ through a tie-up with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II

In August 2021, Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit aerospace company entered into a NASDAQ withdrawal agreement by combining the business with specialized company NextGen Acquisition Corp. II, which was created by former Goldman Sachs top executive George Mattson.

It is planned that the business combination will be completed in the IV quarter of 2021. The deal includes a new $100 million investment from Boeing and AE Industrial Partners. In total, the combined company will receive up to $483 million in investor funds. Shares of the combined company will trade on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol VORB^[3].

First successful rocket launch with commercial satellites

At the end of June 2021, Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit successfully launched a rocket with commercial satellites into space five months after the first test flight. Seven satellites from three different countries were launched using a rocket that took off mid-air from Virgin Orbit's modified Boeing 747 after leaving the Mojave aerospace port.

The carrier aircraft, a modified Boeing 747 called the Cosmic Girl, took off at 9:53 a.m. ET and flew west toward the Pacific Ocean. Less than an hour later, at 10:47 a.m., a 70-foot-long two-stage LauncherOne rocket separated from the plane and started its only engine to approach the edge of Earth's atmosphere. On board were the Netherlands' first military satellite, four small satellites from the Defense Department's test program and the first two of 14 SatRevolution imaging satellites.

Richard Branson's company successfully launched a rocket with commercial satellites for the first time

The rocket reached orbit at 10:58 and launched satellites at about 11:27, completing a two-hour mission. Virgin Orbit, Virgin Galactic's space tourism subsidiary of billionaire Richard Branson, calls the mission "Tubular Bells: Part One." The company plans to launch at least one more rocket in 2021, CEO Dan Hart told reporters, but the company expects a much tighter launch schedule in 2022. Hart clarified that Virgin Orbit had signed several deals after the January test flight.

Typically, space missions involve launching rockets vertically from the ground, however Virgin Orbit prefers to launch rockets from the air from a modified Boeing 747 to provide customers with a faster and more accurate way to put satellites into orbit. The method is particularly attractive to companies building cheap small satellites, which are becoming an increasingly popular satellite market sector as launch costs fall.^[4]

Notes