On March 21st aerospace giant Boeing entered a writ against Virgin Galactic in the US District Court of Virginia. The action alleged that Virgin owed Boeing $26 million (€24m) and that it had misappropriated certain IP and trade secrets associated with the development for a new space tourism aircraft for Virgin. Boeing, and an associated […]
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic near-space tourism venture has set January 26th for its next commercial passenger flight (Galactic 06). It will be the 11th flight overall. Virgin’s VSS Unity craft will carry four paying clients, following what the company describes as a year of unprecedented human spaceflight achievements, including six suborbital spaceflights in six […]
Sir Richard Branson says he is not putting any more cash into the Virgin Galactic rocket space tourism venture. He told the FT that his business empire “does not have the deepest pockets” any more and that he had learned an expensive lesson with its Virgin Orbit business which went bust earlier in 2023. Virgin […]
Virgin Orbit, in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has asked its bankruptcy court to delay the deadline for prospective bidders to make their intentions known. Virgin Orbit says that more time was needed to iron out some details and to give more time to get a deal done. Virgin Orbit had originally set May 14th for […]
Sir Richard Branson’s rocket company Virgin Orbit has filed for bankruptcy in the US after failing to secure new investment. The satellite launch company had already halted operations and laid-off staff but says it hopes to find a buyer for the business. In truth, it was always an also-ran contender in the competitive launch business […]
Barely 18 months ago, Virgin Orbit was valued at $3.7 billion. Its share price on March 31st valued the aircraft-based rocket launch business as being worth just $0.20 per share, and a market capitalisation of just $66 million. There seems little prospect of the business escaping bankruptcy. Virgin Orbit has laid off almost all of […]
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic business has reported a significant trading loss for 2022. The company said it remained “on track” to start carrying paying passengers in its space tourism business despite racking up $500 million in losses last year. The losses, specifically at Virgin Galactic Holdings, amount to $500 million compared to a loss […]
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit satellite launch business has raised a financial stop-gap of $10 million (€9.1m), according to a filing with the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 30th. The cash comes from a sister – but separate – company, Virgin Investments Limited (VIL), the investment arm of the Branson’s Virgin Group. […]
Virgin Orbit failed on its debut British launch mission. Its heavily modified ‘Cosmic Girl’ 747 aircraft took off on time in the evening of January 9th from Spaceport Cornwall, complete with its LauncherOne rocket strapped under its port wing. But the rocket failed to work as designed. The LauncherOne’s second stage suffered a technical “anomaly” […]
The four-part docuseries Branson, directed by Chris Smith (100 Foot Wave), debuts in the UK on December 4th on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW. Sixteen days before Richard Branson is scheduled to make a potentially historic flight as the first passenger to reach space in his own spacecraft in July 2021, the billionaire entrepreneur sits […]