CNBC: Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Might Shut Down
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British billionaire Richard Branson’s small satellite launcher Virgin Orbit may shut down “for the foreseeable future” due to lack of funding. About it informed CNBC, citing a statement from CEO Dan Hart. An audio recording of his meeting with staff is available from CNBC.
“Unfortunately, we have not been able to secure funding to provide a clear path for this company. <...> We have no choice but to make immediate, dramatic and extremely painful changes,” he said.
It is specified that as part of the changes, 90% of employees will be laid off, only 100 people will remain in the state. The layoffs will affect all departments, Hart said. In doing so, Virgin Orbit will “provide a severance package to every departing” employee with cash, extended benefits and support in finding a new position – with a “direct channel” created with Virgin Galactic subsidiary for hiring, Hart elaborated.
In January 2023, the company reported about an unsuccessful attempt to launch a LauncherOne rocket with satellites from the UK. On March 30, at the close of trading, the share price fell to $0.34. Since the beginning of the year, their value has decreased by 82%.
Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 by British billionaire Richard Branson as part of the Virgin Group conglomerate. The billionaire, who has already tried himself in various fields – from recording and printing to air travel – was determined to become a pioneer of private space tourism. In 2017, Branson founded Virgin Orbit, which plans to launch small satellites.
First successful rocket launch happened January 17, 2021 Then, by order of NASA, the LauncherOne air launch launch vehicle launched nine CubeSat microsatellites into orbit from under the wing of the aircraft. This was preceded by an unsuccessful attempt by Virgin Orbit: on May 25, 2020, after the launch of LauncherOne, the security system turned off the first stage engines for an unknown reason, and the rocket fell.
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