All articles tagged with #virgin orbit
United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket completes its final mission, Rocket Lab plans to reuse a previously flown Electron rocket first stage tank, Virgin Orbit's IP library is available for licensing at $3 million, Virgin Galactic countersues Boeing over a project to develop a new mothership aircraft, and Ursa Major signs a contract with the US Navy to develop and test solid fuel rocket engines.
Virgin Orbit has agreed to sell key assets worth over $35m to three aerospace companies and will cease operations. The California-based company filed for bankruptcy in early April after failing to secure long-term financing and furloughing all but 100 staff members. Stratolaunch, Rocket Lab and Launcher are the winning bidders of a weeks-long sale process that ended in a bankruptcy auction held on Monday. Six rockets in assembly stages are still pending sale, a Virgin Orbit spokesperson told CNBC's Michael Sheetz.
Virgin Orbit, the satellite launch start-up founded by Richard Branson, will cease operations and sell its assets to four winning bidders, including Rocket Lab, Stratolaunch, and Vast Space subsidiary Launcher, for a combined total of almost $36 million. The move comes less than two months after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and faced increased difficulty raising funding following a failed international mission earlier this year. Virgin Orbit was founded in 2017 by Branson to target the market for launching small satellites into space using modified Virgin passenger planes.
Rocket Lab USA is acquiring some assets from Virgin Orbit in a bankruptcy auction, expanding its aerospace business.
The stock market is expected to continue its downward trend as investors worry about the lack of progress on the debt ceiling negotiations and weak retail earnings. Netflix has started cracking down on password-sharing, while Virgin Orbit has sold off its assets after facing financial difficulties. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to announce his run for presidency in a discussion with Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces.
Virgin Orbit, the rocket company founded by Richard Branson, has been shut down and sold for $36m after failing to secure new investment. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in the US last month, just weeks after pausing operations to shore up its finances. Its converted Boeing 747 jet, rocket factory, and equipment were sold to rival start-up Rocket Lab, while aerospace firm Stratolaunch bought its Cosmic Girl jet and Launcher Inc bought its launch site and lease in the Mojave desert. Virgin Orbit never turned a profit as a public company and its LauncherOne rocket failed to complete the first ever satellite launch from UK soil earlier this year.
Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson's bankrupt satellite launch firm, is closing for good after a $36.4 million asset sale, including an agreement to sell the bulk of its Long Beach, California, headquarters to small-launch firm Rocket Lab USA Inc. Rocket Lab won the bankrupt rocket company's primary manufacturing site for $16 million during an auction held on Monday. Virgin Orbit also plans to sell its aircraft assets, including the modified Boeing 747 "Cosmic Girl" carrier aircraft, to hypersonics firm Stratolaunch for $17 million.
Three aerospace companies, Rocket Lab, Stratolaunch, and Vast, have won the bankruptcy auction for most of the assets of launch company Virgin Orbit, including manufacturing facilities and its Boeing 747 aircraft. The auction results rule out any attempt to keep the company intact and bring it out of bankruptcy under new ownership. Virgin Orbit said it would cease operations after completing the sale of the assets.
Virgin Orbit has shut down after selling its facility leases and equipment to Rocket Lab, Stratolaunch, and Vast's Launcher in an auction for a total of about $36 million. The bankruptcy court is set to approve the sales in a hearing on Wednesday. Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy protection in April after failing to secure funding and laying off nearly its entire workforce. The company's goal in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process was to find a wholesale buyer that would keep its assets and intellectual property intact, but this outcome falls short of that goal.
The UK government has no plans to acquire launch company Virgin Orbit, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States on April 4. The company conducted the first orbital launch attempt from UK soil in January, but a problem with the upper stage engine on the company’s LauncherOne rocket prevented it from reaching orbit. The company is nearing the end of a bankruptcy sale process, with final bids due May 19.
Bankrupt rocket company Virgin Orbit has received a $17 million "stalking horse" bid for its modified 747 carrier jet and other aircraft assets from aerospace venture Stratolaunch, which is developing the world's largest airplane called "Roc" as an airborne platform for hypersonic flight testing. The deal would see Stratolaunch buy Virgin Orbit's aircraft assets for cash, with a $1.7 million deposit to be made by the buyer immediately in escrow if the deal goes through. Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy protection on April 4 after the company failed to secure a funding lifeline and laid off nearly its entire workforce.
Virgin Orbit has entered into a "stalking horse" agreement with Stratolaunch to sell mainly its aircraft assets, including the "Cosmic Girl" carrier aircraft, for $17 million in cash. The bankrupt satellite launch company said the bid does not prevent going concern bidders from making bids for all its assets, including the ones Stratolaunch is bidding for. The deadline to submit bids for its assets is 12 p.m. ET (1600 GMT) on May 19.
Virgin Orbit completed an investigation into the failure of its previous LauncherOne mission and confirmed that the root cause of the failure was a fuel filter that dislodged in the propulsion system. The company is moving ahead with plans to return its LauncherOne rocket to flight later this year, even though there is no certainty the company will emerge from bankruptcy. Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 4 and is continuing "reduced rate operations" while in Chapter 11.
Virgin Orbit, the air-launched rocket-maker spun out of Richard Branson’s space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, has set a deadline of May 14 for bids on its business after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 4. The company managed four successful launches, but a failed launch in January left it unable to generate new revenue. Analysts believe failed launch vehicle businesses don’t have much value, and Virgin Orbit's assets may be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The company's limitations and hefty price tag, driven by the more than $1 billion spent developing the rocket and launch system, were major obstacles to success. Virgin Orbit owes between $100 and $500 million to a variety of creditors, including publicly-traded space companies and the US Space Force.
Rocket Lab plans to reuse a Rutherford rocket engine for the first time in Q3 2022. Virgin Orbit has completed a month-long test series to verify the root cause of the January 9 failure of its LauncherOne rocket. South Korea's KSLV-2 rocket is set to launch on May 24, carrying a technology-demonstration satellite and seven cubesats. Pangea Aerospace is partnering with Tehiru to develop a reusable air-launched rocket capable of carrying 550-kilogram payloads to low-Earth orbit.