Author Topic: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off  (Read 53294 times)

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #160 on: 05/24/2023 05:36 pm »
https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/05/no-one-should-be-surprised-virgin-orbit-failed-it-had-a-terrible-business-plan/

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No one should be surprised Virgin Orbit failed—it had a terrible business plan
The business case simply did not close.

by Eric Berger - May 24, 2023 4:46pm GMT

It's now official—the launch company Virgin Orbit is being sold for parts.

[…] the problem was Virgin Orbit's management, including Chief Executive Officer Dan Hart and its founder, Sir Richard Branson. Due to their leadership, the company had a terrible, unsupportable business plan and compounded those issues by hiring an unsustainable workforce of 700 people.

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #161 on: 05/25/2023 03:43 pm »
https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1661758293801332736

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Update: U.S. bankruptcy court has filed the orders approving Virgin Orbit's asset sales to Rocket Lab and Stratolaunch.

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #162 on: 05/26/2023 01:34 pm »
https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1662087004861915138

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Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart, in a final post on the company's LinkedIn: "Thank you for the great honor of being a part of your team."

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/virgin-orbit_at-virgin-orbit-we-pioneered-a-new-method-activity-7067155042671214593-vQ1-

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Virgin Orbit 98,073 followers
1d

At Virgin Orbit:

We pioneered a new method of space flight, flying liquid-fueled rockets to space from under the wing of a 747 aircraft.

After 4 successful sequential commercial space flights, and the precise delivery of 33 satellites, we experienced an upper stage launch anomaly while attempting the first launch in history from Western Europe.

We developed and operated a human-assisted launch system unlike any other, and most importantly, did it safely.

Upon the onslaught of COVID in 2020, with our community at risk, we designed a ventilator and delivered 600 of them to Emergency Medical Services.

All of this was taken on by a team of individuals who continually challenged the norm, and routinely pushed the edge of the envelope in the finest tradition of aerospace innovation.

This is the legacy of Virgin Orbit.

To all of those who participated, everyone who turned a wrench, flew a mission, ran a launch procedure, released a design, a plan, a contract, a proposal or business analysis, made a piece of art, or lead a team; to all those who supplied parts, material and services, and to all of our colleagues and customers worldwide, thank you for the great honor of being a part of your team.

- Dan

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #163 on: 05/26/2023 07:52 pm »
So long and thanks for all the fish.

Or in Dan's case in 2021 $670k bonus plus $1M worth of stock options not stock.

Offline lightleviathan

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #164 on: 05/26/2023 09:08 pm »
So long and thanks for all the fish.

Or in Dan's case in 2021 $670k bonus plus $1M worth of stock options not stock.

The business was never scalable, but I feel like all the bonuses and over hiring (which I believe were all made at the top-level) accelerated their demise. Nevertheless, it's always sad to see a rocket company go bankrupt.

Unless its ARCA  ;)

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #165 on: 05/31/2023 04:41 pm »
Wow

https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1663948612684873731

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Jefferies, after a recent meeting with Rocket Lab $RKLB, says the company's $16 million purchase of Virgin Orbit assets in the bankruptcy auction is worth $100 million:
- $80m of equipment
- $20m of real estate

Edit to add:

https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1663954238110564376

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Right, Jefferies was passing along the info they got from meeting with Rocket Lab's CFO and IR
« Last Edit: 05/31/2023 05:08 pm by FutureSpaceTourist »

Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #166 on: 06/10/2023 01:36 am »
Not exactly too worthy of mentioning, but their Twitter account is now gone (however their US government contracting sub-company Virgin Orbit National Systems still is). I suspect their other social media accounts are all gone now.
Astronomy & spaceflight geek penguin. In a relationship w/ Space Shuttle Discovery. Current Priority: Chasing the Chinese Spaceflight Wonder Egg & A Certain Chinese Mars Rover

Offline lightleviathan

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #167 on: 06/10/2023 03:00 am »
Unfortunately, their YouTube account is gone also. I hope the launch livestreams aren't gone forever.

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #168 on: 06/13/2023 07:25 pm »
https://twitter.com/shorealonefilms/status/1668681589621133312

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The end of a long career. #VirginOrbits #CosmicGirl has begun stripping of its livery before changing into #stratolaunch colors #avgeek 06-13-23

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #169 on: 06/16/2023 04:41 pm »

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #170 on: 06/17/2023 04:22 am »
The remaining assets were bought for only $3.8M!
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline hartspace

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Re: Virgin Orbit bankrupt and assets sold off
« Reply #171 on: 07/20/2023 06:51 pm »
I saw the (former) Cosmic Girl 747 flying out of Long Beach this morning, still in Virgin colors.  According to Flightradar24, it is headed for Lake Charles, LA.  Apparently, there is a airplane repainting company at Lake Charles.  So that may be why it is going there.
« Last Edit: 07/20/2023 06:57 pm by hartspace »

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