Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US on Tuesday. The satellite launch company failed to secure new investment after a rocket launch failed in January. The California-based company had stopped operations weeks ago and lodged the filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It is trying to secure a buyer for its assets.

Virgin Orbit laid off roughly 85 per cent of its 750 employees last week.

"At this stage, we believe that the Chapter 11 process represents the best path forward to identify and finalise an efficient and value-maximising sale," Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said in a statement.

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Hart added that the company had "taken great efforts" to address its finances and secure more funding, but "we ultimately must do what is best for the business".

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Assets worth $243 million were listed in the filing, besides its total debt as being $153.5 million as of September 30.

Virgin Orbit went public in 2021 and the finances it raised were $255 million less than expected. It is an extension of Branson's space tourism firm Virgin Galactic and was formed in 2017. Virgin Orbit air-launches rockets from beneath a modified Boeing 747 plane to send satellites into orbit.

It undertook its sixth mission in January with its centrepiece LauncherOne rocket, the first rocket launch from UK soil, but it failed to reach orbit and sent its payload of US and UK intelligence satellites plunging into the ocean.

The Virgin Group has an approximately 75 per cent share in Virgin Orbit. It has been finding it hard to secure new funding after the January rocket failure. It was forced to halt operations and furlough nearly all its employees on March 15.

(With inputs from agencies)

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