Virgin Orbit was an air-launch, SmallSat launch company based in Long Beach, California. The company spun out of Virgin Galactic and was own by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.

The company’s mission was based on an, at the time, pioneering idea called “rapid responsive launch.” The plan would be able to launch anywhere in the world within months or weeks of purchasing the flight. Now we see that happen everywhere in the launch industry.

Virgin Orbit’s method would consist of launching a liquid fueled, two-stage rocket from the wing of a Boeing 747 airplane. The rocket, called LauncherOne, and the aircraft, CosmicGirl, could operate from almost any commercial runway in the world.

LauncherOne flew for a total six times with four of them being successful. A rather impressive launch rate for a new company pushing its technology to the limits. However it was not enough to save the company.

LauncherOne’s first flight was in May of 2020 with intern and student built satellites. However, it failed to reach orbit due to a problem with the first stage. Virgin Orbit went on to successfully launch four straight LauncherOne rockets.

The final flight of LauncherOne took place out of Spaceport Cornwall in the UK in January 2023, the previous flights originated out of Mojave Air and Space Port. This flight failed due to an issue with the rocket’s second stage, losing the handful of satellites it carried.

This turned out to be the final straw that broke its back as Virgin Orbit went on to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2023. The company was strapped for cash for a few quarters already and continued to fail at the very idea it originated, rapid launches.

Its competitors divided up its remaining assets in a an auction with Rocket Lab, Firefly, Stratolaunch, and Launcher gaining much of its technology, equipment, and facilities.

Virgin Orbit announced Tuesday morning that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after it ceased operations and practically ran out of cash. This comes less than a week after the companylaid off most of its workforce.

In an all-hands meeting Thursday afternoon, Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart told employees the bad news we had been expecting for a few days. The company will be laying off most of its workforce and cease operations due to a failure to gain funding.

Last week we saw the first major collapse of a recent commercial space company, withVirgin Orbit furloughing its entire staff except for a handful of employees. However, there are some signs of hope, as tomorrow more employees will return for work with more coming later.

It’s been a turbulent week for Virgin Orbit, headquartered out of Long Beach California. The company suspended all operations and furloughed most of its workforce for a week as it sought relief by raising funds to rescue its rocket-flying business, according to sources close to the matter on March 15.

During a 5 p.m. EDT meeting that day, company higher-ups explained that employees could cash in their paid time off as the furlough would be unpaid with a small team remaining in place continuing to work.

During the third quarter of 2022, Virgin Orbit reported a loss of $42.9 million as cash demands continued, with fourth quarter funding coming from an investment arm of its founder Richard Branson’s parent company, Virgin Group.

Notes in the amounts of $25 million, an unsecured convertible note secured in November of 2022, along with another $30 million in senior secured notes in December 2022 and January 2023 gives “first priority” access to assets by Branson’s parent company.

According to CNBC’s Michael Sheetz, Virgin Orbit will be shutting down and furloughing its employees for at least one week while it looks for funding to continue operations.

Virgin Orbit is back at it again with their one-of-a-kind LauncherOne rocket. Wednesday, the rocket will launch mid-air from Virgin Orbit’s custom Boeing 747 with several customer satellites onboard. Here’s everything we know and how you can watch it live.

• Spaceflight
• Launch
• Virgin Orbit
• LauncherOne

Launch Spotlight: Virgin Orbit’s first 2022 launch of its LauncherOne vehicle

Seth KurkowskiJan 11 2022 - 1:37 pm PT

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After becoming a publically traded company last week, Richard Branson’s commercial launch provider,Virgin Orbit, is preparing for its first launch of 2022. Onboard will be four payloads from both civil and commercial entities. Continuing on with fun names Virgin Orbit has given its mission, this one is called “Above the Clouds.”

Launch Date: Wednesday, January 12, ~5:00 p.m. EST (Takeoff: ~4:00 p.m. EST)

Virgin Orbit announced a partnership with the Texas-based nonprofit Southwest Research Institute to work on future research missions.

The smallsat launcher owned by Richard Branson announced it will be joining the trend of other space companies and merging with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). This also comes with some new future plans for Virgin Orbit like turning LauncherOne into a reusable rocket and developing a new LauncherTwo vehicle.

This morning Virgin Orbit is attempting their third flight of the LauncherOne air-launched vehicle. This will be the first operational flight of the vehicle aftertheir successful Demo-2 mission in January.

Date: Wednesday, June 30th, 10:47 a.m. EDT (Drop and Launch)

Virgin Orbit has become one of the newest launch providers to come online with the success of theirDemo 2 launch earlier this year. Now their first operational mission is nearing launch readiness by the end of this month.

In apress release Wednesday, Virgin Orbit announced that they were selected by geospatial analytics company Hypersat, and QinetiQ, a defense and security company, to launch 6 hyperspectral satellites into low earth orbit.

Richard Branson’s satellite launcher Virgin Orbit has selected their first Chief Operating Officer to help get the company ready for commercial operations after the success of theirDemo 2 mission. This mission successfully deployed 10 NASA payloads from NASA’s Launch Services Program into orbit around Earth bringing them officially online as a company capable to send satellites into orbit.

On the heals of theirfirst successful launch into orbit earlier this month, Virgin Orbit has been selected to send a new payload for the Royal Netherlands Royal Air Force called BRIK-II, a payload named after the their first airplane.

Virgin Orbit attempted its second demonstration launch on Sunday after their first attempt failed shortly after the first stage ignition last year. This time around they didn’t just launch a mass simulator but actual payloads from NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites program ElaNa 20 which contained several CubeSats from universities across the nation.

January 7: VO now has a more firm date ofWednesday, January 13.

Virgin Orbit has announced the next test opportunity for its Launch Demo 2 mission from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The mission will test launching a rocket to space from the wing of an airplane.

Virgin Orbitplanned to conduct its second Launch Demo mission before the end of the year, but the spread of COVID-19 forced the team tohalt pre-flight work this month. After following recommended safety guidelines, the team at Virgin Orbit is back on track, the company shared today. Virgin Orbit’s launch approach involves dropping a space-bound rocket called LauncherOne from the wing of a 747 plane named Cosmic Girl.

• Virgin Orbit
• LauncherOne

Virgin Orbit forced to halt prep for next plane-based rocket launch test due to COVID-19

Zac HallDec 14 2020 - 10:01 am PT

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Virgin Orbit is developing a launch system that can deploy small rockets from anywhere on the planet, but the spread of COVID-19 continues to affect the pace of progress.

Virgin Orbit has added Jim Simpson to its executive team to serve as the launch company’s first Chief Strategy Officer. Simpson filling the CSO role is the latest sign that Virgin Orbit is maturing and preparing for commercial service. VO is scheduled to launch itssecond demonstration flight in less than two weeks.

After the first Demo Mission of its LauncherOne air launch system ended in the ocean rather than orbit, Virgin Orbit plans to launch Demo Mission 2 on December 19. This will be its second-ever launch attempt, and this time, it will be adding customer payloads to the top of the rocket.

Virgin Orbit will return to flight as soon as late 2020 with a second demonstration mission aimed at dropping a space-bound LauncherOne rocket from the wing of a 747 plane named Cosmic Girl. The second orbital flight test will include NASA payload this time with 11 small satellites onboard for deployment.