>
Virgin Orbit, billionaire Richard Branson’s satellite launch startup, has announced it is closing down and selling all $36 million worth of assets.
Branson has made several missteps with his satellite launch venture, most notably the disastrous failed orbital mission in the UK, which had received more than $20 million in funding from British taxpayers.
The company had suspended operations in March and then filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US early April, but is now closing completely.
The sold assets, including the Cosmic Girl jet and most of the California headquarters, have been auctioned off to four winning bidders, including three aerospace companies.
Virgin Orbit was founded in 2017 by Branson in hopes of targeting the market for launching small satellites into space — an industry largely owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Virgin Orbit is Richard Branson’s satellite launch company struggling to raise money to fund missions
Branson’s company suspended all operations in March due to slow funding and the disastrous failed launch attempt from Cornwall.
However, more than $20 million of British taxpayer money funded the scrubbed launch.
Just 24 hours after the botched launch in January, MailOnline revealed how Virgin Orbit struggled to survive.
At the time, the company’s shares plummeted by as much as 30 percent.
This loss of more than $200 million came just months after Virgin Orbit expressed “substantial doubt” about its future amid dwindling cash supplies.
The failed orbital mission was found to be caused by a dislodged fuel filter.
Virgin Orbit had been working to determine the cause of the problem since its 22-metre LauncherOne booster broke up over the Atlantic Ocean shortly after being fired by a jumbo jet that had taken off from Cornwall.
Engineers say the detached filter caused an engine to overheat, leading to component failures and the premature shutdown of the rocket’s thrust.
This meant that LauncherOne never reached the required altitude to launch its payload of nine satellites into orbit.
Instead, the booster fell back to Earth within the approved safety corridor in the Atlantic Ocean. It was caught on camera by an observer in Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa.
Richard Branson started Virgin Orbit in 2017
“Virgin Orbit’s legacy in the aerospace industry will be forever remembered,” Virgin Orbit said on Tuesday rack.
“The pioneering technologies, relentless pursuit of excellence and relentless dedication to pushing the boundaries of air launch have left an indelible mark on the industry.”
As previously announced, on April 4, 2023, the company and its US-based subsidiaries filed a voluntary Chapter 11 filing to secure a sale of the company.
The combined total proceeds were determined through a rigorous and competitive auction that maximizes the value of the estate while minimizing the remaining duration of the company’s restructuring.
Rocket Lab, Stratolaunch and Vast Space subsidiary Launcher – with combined bids totaling nearly $36 million – are the three aerospace companies that have acquired Virgin Orbit’s assets.
According to court documents, Rocket Lab spent $16,118,684 on “Conant Machinery & Equipment and Lease.”
About $17 million was handed out by Stratolaunch, which bought a plane, probably Cosmic Girl and “Related Assets.”
And Launcher’s $2.7 million bid went to the Mojave Facility Lease, Machinery & Equipment, and Inventory.
Virgin Orbit is a spin-off of Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism venture, which took him and his retinue into space alone, which has also been shrouded in controversy.
Branson performed the first private space flight on July 11, 2021, but two months later Virgin Galactic was not allowed to fly its SpaceShip Two again until it was clear why the rocket went off course during the mission.
And in November 2021, Branson faced a lawsuit from shareholders who claimed he had hidden problems with Virgin Galactic’s space program and sold millions of shares at inflated prices.
A US judge ordered Branson, 71, to answer allegations he hid problems in the program after being charged with “deliberately sending faulty rockets into space.”
While most of the claims in the proposed class action were dismissed, U.S. District Judge Allyne Ross in Brooklyn said shareholders could try to prove that Virgin and Branson defrauded them by overpaying for stock, which is now more than 90 percent below their share price. peak in February 2021.
Shareholders can sue over statements made in July 2019 that Virgin had made “great progress” in overcoming “hurdles” to commercial spaceflight, despite a near-disastrous test flight five months earlier when its Unity rocket plane sustained critical damage.
Branson must also defend his July 2021 statement that his own just-completed flight on Unity, where he soared 50 miles above Earth, had been “flawless,” even though Unity had strayed from its assigned airspace.
However, Virgin Galactic has scheduled its next manned spaceflight on May 25, in which eight people will participate.