Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday after the satellite launch company could not secure the long-term funding necessary to recover from a rocket failure from earlier this year.
The company’s filing was done in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It is looking to sell its assets after announcing last week that roughly 85% of its 750 employees would be laid off, Reuters reported.
“We believe that the Chapter 11 process represents the best path forward to identify and finalize an efficient and value-maximizing sale,” Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said in a statement obtained by the outlet.
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In the filing, Virgin Orbit listed assets of about $243 million and total debt at $153.5 million as of Sept. 30.
The company went public through a blank-check deal in 2021, raising $255 million less than expected. Virgin Orbit, which was spun off from Branson’s space tourism firm Virgin Galactic in 2017, air-launches rockets from under a modified Boeing 747 plane to send satellites into orbit.
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Virgin Orbit has said launching small rockets from a 747 in flight would allow for short-notice launches from anywhere. However, analysts and industry executives have said a shift in demand toward larger launch rockets and more cost-effective shared rides to space on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket over the past two years heightened Virgin Orbit’s competitive stake.
Virgin Orbit’s sixth mission in January, which featured its centerpiece LauncherOne rocket, failed to reach orbit and sent its payload of U.S. and UK intelligence satellites falling into the ocean.
The company attempted to find new funding after the rocket failure, stopping operations and furloughing nearly all its employees on March 15 to save money.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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