Virgin Orbit, the satellite launch company founded by Sir Richard Branson, has filed for bankruptcy in the United States after failing to secure new investment. The California-based firm, which was spun off from Branson’s space tourism venture Virgin Galactic, halted operations several weeks ago. It hopes to find a buyer for the business and has announced that 85% of its 750-strong workforce will be laid off. Virgin Orbit launches rockets from beneath modified Boeing 747 planes to put satellites into space. However, earlier this year, the firm’s inaugural satellite launch from the UK ended in failure when a rocket fuel filter became dislodged.
Virgin Orbit has debts of $153.5m (£123m) as of September last year. However, it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which allows a business to keep operating while addressing its financial issues and provides protection against creditors who are owed money. On Tuesday, the company said that Virgin Investments, part of Virgin Group, would provide $31.6m in new money to help Virgin Orbit through the process of finding a buyer. Sir Richard and the Virgin Group have invested more than $1bn in the business to launch satellites through Virgin Orbit and to develop reusable “space planes” to take tourists on brief trips to suborbital space.
Virgin Orbit’s responsive capability, which allows it to launch from anywhere at short notice, may appeal to the military, but it has only managed to launch twice last year. While some analysts believe that the company will eventually emerge from its current financial problems, others have expressed doubts about the commercial appeal of the space sector to investors. Sir Richard is among a small group of billionaires, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who are investing in commercial space travel and the launch of satellites.
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