Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit in Long Beach furloughs most of its staff as it seeks funding
LA TimesVirgin Orbit’s Boeing 747-400 aircraft named Cosmic Girl prepares to land at Mojave Air and Space Port in May 2020. British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit has paused operations as the rocket-launch company searches for more funding. The operational pause will allow Virgin Orbit to save money while company executives meet with “potential funding sources” and explore “strategic opportunities,” according to the document. Founded in 2017 as an offshoot of Branson’s spacecraft manufacturing and space-tourism companies, Virgin Orbit launches satellites via a rocket that blasts off from beneath the wing of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner. “It’s hard to finance these capital-intensive projects.” However, the company’s unique air-launch capability and the strong demand among commercial and military customers for satellite launches give Autry confidence that Virgin Orbit will survive.
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