Virgin Orbit wants more cash
October 12, 2020
By Chris Forrester
Sir Richard Branson’s aircraft-based satellite launching project, Virgin Orbit, is looking to raise up to $200 million, according to a report in the WSJ.
Many of Branson’s projects, not least his airline businesses, have been hit hard by the Coronavirus.
The WSJ says that Virgin Orbit (which suspends a powerful rocket from beneath one of the wings of a specially adapted Virgin 747 Jumbo jet) has retained Lion Tree Advisors and Perella Weinberg Partners to examine potential financial transactions. They are said to have been instructed to source extra funding of between $150 million – $200 million by the end of this year.
The extra cash will help pay for additional capital expenditure and to fund satellite launches.
Virgin Orbit intends focusing on launching smaller satellites. It was at one stage contracted to launch a number of OneWeb satellites. That order was cancelled and is not the subject of litigation between Virgin and OneWeb.