Virgin Orbit will cease operations for the foreseeable future, according to media reports.
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson's rocket company Virgin Orbit says it will lay off 85% of staff after failing to secure new investment.It comes weeks after the company paused operations in an apparent attempt to shore up its finances.
Earlier this year, a Virgin Orbit rocket failed to complete the first ever satellite launch from UK soil., Virgin Orbit said it made the decision "in order to reduce expenses in light of the company's inability to secure meaningful funding."It said that Sir Richard's investment firm Virgin Investments has injected $10.9m into Virgin Orbit "to fund severance and other costs related to the workforce reduction".
"We have no choice but to implement immediate, dramatic and extremely painful changes," Virgin Orbit chief executive Dan Hart said at a meeting with employees, according to CNBC, which first reported the news.The firm, which was founded in 2017, has not turned a profit as a public company. It develops rockets to carry small satellites and is part of Sir Richard's business empire, which includes airline Virgin Atlantic and space tourism company Virgin Galactic.first ever satellite mission launched from UK soil in January, which ended in failureThe company's LauncherOne rocket - which was launched from the Boeing 747 aircraft Cosmic Girl - reached space but fell short of reaching its target orbit.
The mission was billed as a milestone for UK space exploration. It was hoped it would mark a major step forward in fulfilling an ambition to turn the country into a global player - from manufacturing satellites to building rockets and creating new spaceports.and "anticipates providing an update on go-forward operations in the coming weeks."
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