The space launch vehicle ‘Launcher One’ is hanging from a large aircraft of Virgin Orbit. Provided by Virgin Orbit
Satellite launcher Virgin Orbit, which suffered from financial difficulties, has entered bankruptcy protection proceedings. Virgin Orbit is a company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, and uses an aircraft to launch a rocket into the air as a business model.
According to CNBC on the 4th (local time), Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy protection under Article 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act with the Delaware bankruptcy court on the same day. Article 11 Bankruptcy protection is the process of temporarily suspending the performance of debts of an enterprise and normalizing the enterprise through the sale of assets. Unlike court receivership in Korea, the CEO of the company can retain management rights.
“We have been working hard to improve our financial position and secure additional funding, but in the end we are doing what is best for our business,” Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said in a statement. The technology will be enough to attract the attention of buyers.” This means maximizing the value of the sale of the company.
Virgin Orbit is a private company that provides space launch vehicle services. Virgin Orbit’s space launch vehicle, ‘Launcher One’, is a space launch vehicle with a length of about 21 m and is designed to carry a payload of up to 500 kg in a low orbit 230 km above the ground. Unlike the Korean launch vehicle ‘Nuriho’ or the ‘Falcon 9’ of the US aerospace company SpaceX, the rocket is launched in the air using an aircraft.
The biggest advantage of air launch is that it is not limited by launch azimuth. Usually, when launching a rocket from the ground, the launch azimuth is calculated according to the latitude of the launch site, with 0 degrees north, east 90 degrees, and south 180 degrees. In addition, Virgin Orbit explained that any airport in the world can be used as a launch site to launch rockets as long as an airplane can take off.
However, Virgin Orbit failed to launch several times. Launches started in 2020, but only six times. The second time failed. In January this year, it failed to launch nine small satellites in Cornwall, England. As a result of this failure, it failed to raise additional funds, and the company’s situation became difficult. Virgin Orbit has already suspended operations on the 16th of last month and notified its employees of unpaid leave.
Virgin Orbit has announced that it will start space launch vehicle service in Korea in 2024. J Space Holdings signed an agreement with a domestic company for satellite launch service and has been promoting the start of the service. However, as Virgin Orbit goes into bankruptcy, it seems that this will also fail.
