Virgin Orbit, which provides satellite launch services based in California, has ceased all operations. The company said in a statement that such a move was made to support the deteriorating financial situation. The company, whose projects and operations stopped, put its employees on indefinite leave. After all these developments, the press and media asked, “Is Virgin Orbit sinking?” began to ask the question.
Does Virgin Orbit really sink?
The company, which opened in California in 2017, provided launch services for small satellites. In 2021, the first Virgin Orbit-produced satellites successfully reached orbit. These rockets, called LauncherOne, were developed from 2007 to 2020 and reached orbit in 2021. After this successful result, the company put 10 more cube satellites into orbit. The initial purpose of the company was to produce solutions that would reduce launch costs.
However, things did not go as well as before. The UK project in January 2023 ended in failure. The satellite, which was planned to be launched from a jumbo jet over the Atlantic Ocean, failed to fire. Fortunately, there were no fears and the jet returned safely to base.
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While investigations and investigations on the subject were ongoing, a statement was made by the company today. The company stated that the investigation into the failure was “almost complete” and that “production integration and testing of the next rocket, to which the necessary modification was incorporated, has been completed.”
The company stated in its statements that the investigation and examination processes are over and necessary corrections will be made. However, the situation in the stock markets is not good. Following the UK failure, Virgin Orbit shares fell 18.8% to 82 cents. While all these review processes caused financial burden, the misfortunes in the stock market made things very difficult.
Virgin Orbit management stated that it has stopped its operations in order to stop the worsening economic trend. It is obvious that the company, which stated that it will continue its projects in a short time, is at a very difficult and critical point to return to. “Is Virgin Orbit sinking?” The last situation for the company, which answered no to the questions of the company, will be determined in the management meeting planned to be held in the coming days.
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