Friday, March 29

Virgin Orbit wants to get out of bankruptcy and looks for formulas | Digital Trends Spanish


the future of Virgin Orbit is hanging by a thread as it continues to seek a cash injection to avoid bankruptcy.

The California-based company has been trying to make a success of its satellite launch business, but suffered a major setback in January when a UK launch attempt ended in failure.

If an investor is not found, bankruptcy could come as soon as this week, CNBC reported on Monday.

One potential buyer has reportedly “bald” a potential sale price of $200 million, though others are said to be in talks with the company as well.

Virgin Orbit’s struggles first came to light last week when it suspended all 750 0f on its staff while it searched for a sponsor. The company declines to comment on the reported conversations, though people familiar with the matter said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart and other senior managers were in talks throughout the weekend with potential investors.

Virgin Orbit was spun off from Virgin Galactic in 2017, but its biggest shareholder, Virgin founder Richard Branson, is reluctant to give it more funding after having invested more than $1 billion in the company since November 2022.

In its battle to survive, Virgin Orbit is also working with Alvarez & Marsal and Ducera, two restructuring firms, on a backup plan in case it fails to raise new funding, reported Sky News on Sunday.

After its launch accident in January, the company had hoped to attempt another mission in the coming weeks, but such an effort seems highly unlikely under the current circumstances.

Virgin Orbit’s flight system uses a modified Boeing 747 aircraft with a rocket under one wing to launch small satellites into orbit for private companies and governments. One advantage of Virgin Orbit’s airdrop capability over rivals like SpaceX and RocketLab is that it can fly from almost anywhere that has a runway without the need for expensive infrastructure. It can also operate in adverse weather conditions that could delay a ground launch.

Virgin Orbit has completed four successful missions to date, all launched from the Mojave Air and Space Port in the California desert. The first took place in January 2021, while the most recent was in July 2022.

But the rocket launched in the January mission failed to reach orbit, resulting in the loss of nine small satellites for various commercial customers. The likely cause was a fuel filter that was “dislodged from its normal position” within part of the rocket’s fuel line, Virgin Orbit said last month.

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