I wonder how much SpaceX played a role in this? Virgin hardly expected
SpaceX to success so incredibly
when Virgin was conceived
Ken
On Sun, Apr 2, 2023 at 7:46 PM crogers168 <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
To All:
I thought this was a good article on What Went Wrong with Virgin Orbit on
the CNBC web site.
Virgin Orbit: What went wrong with Richard Branson's company (cnbc.com)
<https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/31/virgin-orbit-what-went-wrong.html>
A few excerpts:
"Given the company’s burn rate near $50 million a quarter, Virgin Orbit
was targeting profitability once it got beyond a launch rate, or cadence,
of a dozen missions per year."
A dozen launches a year for a continuing launch business was at least a
good place to start. They were nowhere near that. See the next quote.
"While Virgin Orbit had aimed to launch seven missions last year, that
number was steadily guided down quarter after quarter, closing out 2022
with just two completed lunches – the same as the year before."
Another excerpt:
"Branson, Virgin Orbit’s largest stakeholder, was unwilling to fund the
company further, as CNBC previously reported. Instead, he began hedging
against his 75% equity stake through a series of debt rounds. That debt
gives the flashy British billionaire first priority of Virgin Orbit assets
in the event of the now-impending bankruptcy."
"first priority on assets in event of the now-impending bankruptcy". This
supports the "Branson gets the assets" theory, whatever it will be worth to
get them. As other have noted, I don't think the assets will be useful
without the associated personnel.
Charles E. (Chuck) Rogers