Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday. The small satellite launcher said last week that it would lay off nearly 85% of its employees after its effort to carry out the first-ever satellite launch from the U.K. failed.
- Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. state of Delaware after it failed to secure a funding lifeline last week.
- The company has assets of $243M and a total debt of $153.5M, according to the filing.
- The bankruptcy comes after CEO Dan Hart told employees last week that the company would cease operations "for the foreseeable future."
- Virgin
Orbit said that Virgin Investments, a unit of Virgin Group,
will support its operations and fund its bankruptcy process with $31.6M
in debtor-in-possession financing.
- The firm will seek a buyer during its bankruptcy.
- Virgin Orbit developed a system for deploying satellites that involves launching a rocket from a modified Boeing 747.
- In January, the company failed in its effort to launch the first satellite from the U.K. using its airplane-mounted LauncherOne system.
- The failure came after Virgin Orbit successfully carried out four LauncherOne missions in the U.S.
- In November, Virgin Orbit reported a loss of $42.9M in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA).
