Richard Branson's Rocket Company Virgin Orbit Files For Bankruptcy Weeks After Halting Operations: Report

Virgin Orbit, which was formed in 2017 as a spin-off of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic to develop and market the LauncherOne rocket, became defunct on April 4, 2023 due to bankruptcy.

In January 2023, Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne was launched from Cornwall, United Kingdom with nine satellites.  However, LauncherOne encountered problems during its second-stage engine burn, which led to the loss of the rocket and all the nine satellites it was carrying.

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California-based rocket manufacturing company Virgin Orbit has filed for bankruptcy, weeks after halting operations, the BBC reports. The company, which was formed in 2017 as a spin-off of British billionaire Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic to develop and market the LauncherOne rocket, became defunct on April 4, 2023 because of failing to secure new investment.

However, Virgin Orbit hopes to find a buyer for the business, a BBC report says. 

LauncherOne has performed six missions, of which four were successful and the rest failed. In January 2023, LauncherOne was launched from Cornwall, United Kingdom with nine satellites.  However, LauncherOne encountered problems during its second-stage engine burn, which led to the loss of the rocket and all the nine satellites it was carrying. This was the first satellite mission to be launched from the United Kingdom, but it ended in failure. 

Last week, Virgin Orbit announced that it would cut 85 per cent of its workforce which had 750 people. 

Quoting Virgin Orbit President and CEO Dan Hart, the report said that although the company had taken great efforts to address its finances and secure more funding, the firm must ultimately do what is best for the business.

Hart also said that Virgin Orbit will now try to find a buyer for the business to provide clarity on the future of the company to its customers, vendors and employees.

After the failed Cornwall launch, it was challenging for Virgin Orbit to find new funding.

According to the report, Virgin Orbit said Tuesday that Virgin Investments, one of the sister companies of the rocket firm, will provide $31.6 million in new money to help Virgin Orbit through the process of finding a new buyer.

Hart said that Virgin Orbit's team had created "cutting edge launch technology" because of which he was confident the company had a "wide appeal" to a new owner.