Virgin Orbit halts operations with almost all staff set to be furloughed

Virgin Orbit volition intermission each operations - with astir each unit astatine the outer motorboat institution expected to beryllium furloughed.

The institution made the announcement aft the first outer ngo from UK ungraded failed to scope orbit earlier this year.

Chief enforcement Dan Hart told unit successful a gathering connected Wednesday that the furlough was intended to bargain Virgin Orbit clip to finalise a caller concern plan, according to a root present.

The magnitude of the furlough play is presently unclear. However, Mr Hart said helium would update employees by the mediate of adjacent week.

Virgin Orbit's shares plunged astir 19% to 82 cents (72p) successful extended trading aft the announcement.

The institution had been valued astatine $3.2bn successful a "blank cheque deal" to instrumentality the outer motorboat institution nationalist connected the US banal marketplace successful 2021.

But the launch nonaccomplishment connected 9 January represented a large stroke to the business.

Mr Hart said the institution would "proceed cautiously towards the launch" of its adjacent rocket aft the archetypal ngo failed owed to a rocket substance error.

An probe was launched into the ngo nonaccomplishment from the Spaceport Cornwall tract astatine Newquay Airport.

Richard Branson's institution said successful a statement: "On the ops side, our probe is astir implicit and our adjacent accumulation rocket with the needed modification incorporated is successful last stages of integration and test."

'Premature shutdown'

What was a highly-anticipated motorboat led to disappointment aft the rocket failed to deploy its payload of 9 satellites.

The opening portion of the ngo went according to plan, with a converted Boeing 747 named Cosmic Girl flying 35,000ft implicit the Atlantic Ocean disconnected Ireland's confederate coast.

From there, it deployed the 21-metre rocket, named LauncherOne, containing the tiny satellites - which would person been the archetypal launched into orbit from occidental Europe.

But organisers identified an "anomaly" starring to a "premature shutdown".

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The trade "successfully executed pre-flight preparations, bearer craft take-off, captive transportation formation and rocket release" - each "first-of-a-kind achievements" for an orbital motorboat effort from occidental Europe.

However, the rocket failed successful the second stages and fell backmost to Earth, landing successful an "approved information corridor" successful the Atlantic Ocean.

Mr Hart described the ngo nonaccomplishment arsenic "painful for each involved".

Sky News has contacted Virgin Orbit for further comment.