Towards the crash? Virgin Orbit to lay off 85% of its workforce

End of the adventure for Virgin Orbit (formerly Virgin Galactic)? The company founded by the billionaire Richard Branson did not succeed in convincing investors, the latter being no doubt quite put off by the group’s repeated failures. The last rounds of table have finally yielded nothing, so that Virgin Orbit finds itself financially cornered and had no other choice but to lay off 85% of its workforce. A minimum of 250 million dollars would be missing for day-to-day business to be at least assured.

Everything seemed to be off to a good start in July 2021, when Richard Branson became the first billionaire to (almost) reach space, under the nose and beard of Jeff Bezos and his company Blue Origin. However, Virgin Orbit’s business quickly became complicated: an FAA investigation revealed very serious irregularities in the preparation and conduct of this mission, so that the company lost its flight authorizations.

The failure of the mission Start Me Up at the beginning of the year – rocket lost after launch from the carrier plane Cosmic Girl – was probably one disappointment too many. And a sad fact is clear: since its creation in 2017, Virgin Galactic has never managed to generate the slightest profit. Richard Branson still seems to believe in it a little more and even believes that his company can operate with a small number of employees… Investors and financiers still have to be convinced…