Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit prepares for insolvency amid emergency funding requests
British billionaire Richard Branson began Virgin Orbit in 2017
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Virgin Orbit is preparing insolvency plans in case it cannot secure emergency funding from investors this week, according to Sky News.
The Virgin Group is reportedly working with Ducera and Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) to draw up fallback plans in case funding cannot be secured.
Virgin Orbit paused all operations and furloughed most of its employees on Wednesday, two months after the company experienced a mid-flight rocket failure when attempting to send satellites to orbit from Cornwall, England.
The failure caused the company's shares to drop as much as 20% when it happened,
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In this undated photo provided by Virgin Orbit on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, Virgin Atlantic Cosmic Girl, a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft that will carry a rocket, is parked at Spaceport Cornwall, at Cornwall Airport in Newquay, England. (Virgin Orbit via AP / AP Newsroom)
"Virgin Orbit is initiating a company-wide operational pause, effective March 16, 2023, and anticipates providing an update on go-forward operations in the coming weeks," a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
"We expect to be able to return to flight as soon as that investigation has concluded," the Virgin Orbit spokesperson added. "We're in the final stages of that… as well as integrating the changes and lessons learned from that into our next rocket, which we plan to fly later this year."
In the meantime, Virgin Orbit leaders are meeting with prospective investors in a bid to restart its operation.
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MILAN, ITALY - OCTOBER 18: Sir Richard Branson attends the presentation of Virgin Fiber at Teatro Gerolamo on October 18, 2022 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Roberto Finizio / Getty Images)
Virgin Orbit employees remain furloughed, but they are still retaining benefits and being paid time-off.
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Virgin Orbit was created in 2017 by British billionaire Richard Branson. As a venture seeking to commercialize space travel, it has made four successful missions and launched 33 satellites into orbit.
BRAZIL - 2022/01/27: In this photo illustration, a Virgin Orbit Holdings logo seen displayed on a smartphone screen. ((Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Fox News' Paul Best contributed to this report