MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2023) UK businessman Richard Branson's space company Virgin Orbit will cease operations "for the foreseeable future" and lay off almost all of its workforce after a failed attempt to secure needed funding, media reported.
In mid-March, Virgin Orbit furloughed nearly all its employees and halted operations for a week in search of a funding lifeline.
"Unfortunately, we've not been able to secure the funding to provide a clear path for this company... We have no choice but to implement immediate, dramatic and extremely painful changes," the company's chief executive, Dan Hart, said on Thursday, as quoted by CNBC.
Hart noted that the company would cease operations "for the foreseeable future" and retain only 100 employees, which means laying off about 90% of the company's staff, according to the broadcaster.
Virgin Orbit will reportedly "provide a severance package for every departing" employee, which will include a cash payment, extension of benefits and employment support.
In January, Virgin Orbit conducted a launch of the LauncherOne carrier-rocket deployed from a Boeing 747 aircraft, but it failed to reach orbit due to the premature shutdown of the second stage engine.
The mission was supposed to be the first ever launch of satellites from the United Kingdom. Western media labeled the mission failure a major blow not only to the United Kingdom, but also to Virgin Orbit itself and seven other companies, whose satellites were to be put into orbit.
