Current:Home > ContactRichard Branson's Virgin Orbit to cut 85% of its workforce -Blueprint Money Mastery
Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit to cut 85% of its workforce
View
Date:2025-04-12 05:49:59
Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit is letting go of almost its entire work force with the satellite launch company finding it difficult to secure funding three months after a failed mission.
The company, headquartered in Long Beach, California, will cut 675 jobs, about 85% of its workforce, according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Earlier this month, Virgin Orbit said that it was pausing all operations amid reports that the company would furlough most of its staff. At the time the company confirmed that it was putting all work on hold, but didn't say for how long.
In January, a mission by Virgin Orbit to launch the first satellites into orbit from Europe failed after a rocket's upper stage prematurely shut down. It was a setback in the United Kingdom which had hoped that the launch from Cornwall in southwest England would mark the beginning of more commercial opportunities for the U.K. space industry.
The company said in February that an investigation found that its rocket's fuel filter had become dislodged, causing an engine to become overheated and other components to malfunction over the Atlantic Ocean.
Virgin Orbit has completed four successful satellite launches so far from California for a mix of commercial and U.S. government defense uses.
Virgin Orbit said in a regulatory filing on Friday that the job cuts will occur in all areas of the company.
It expects about $15.5 million in charges related to the job cuts, with the majority of the charges taking place in the first quarter. The company anticipates $8.8 million in severance payments and employee benefits costs and $6.5 million in other employee-related costs.
Virgin Orbit anticipates the job cuts being mostly complete by Monday.
Virgin Orbit, which is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, was founded in 2017 by British billionaire Richard Branson to target the market for launching small satellites into space. Its LauncherOne rockets are launched from the air from modified Virgin passenger planes, allowing the company to operate more flexibly than using fixed launch sites.
- In:
- Richard Branson
- Space
veryGood! (48)
Related
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- EPA head says he’s ‘proud” of decision to block Alaska mine and protect salmon-rich Bristol Bay
- What does Florida’s red flag law say, and could it have thwarted the Jacksonville shooter?
- You can see Wayne Newton perform in Las Vegas into 2024, but never at a karaoke bar
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- 'I find it wrong': Cosmetics brand ends Alice Cooper collection after he called trans people a 'fad'
- 'The gateway drug to bird watching': 15 interesting things to know about hummingbirds
- Alabama lawmaker arrested on voter fraud charge
- Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
- March on Washington organizer remembers historic moment as country pushes for change
Ranking
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Top CEOs call on Biden administration to address migrant influx in New York
- Yankees release former AL MVP Josh Donaldson amidst struggles, injuries in Bronx
- Lionel Messi, Inter Miami face Nashville SC in MLS game: How to watch
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Horoscopes Today, August 29, 2023
- Saudi Arabia gets some unlikely visitors when a plane full of Israelis makes an emergency landing
- Elton John spends night in hospital after falling at his home in Nice, France
Recommendation
'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
Remembering victims of the racially motivated Jacksonville Dollar General shooting
Paris Jackson slams 'abuse' from Michael Jackson superfans over birthday post for King of Pop
Best Buy CEO: 2023 will be a low point in tech demand as inflation-wary shoppers pull back
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
Alex Murdaugh’s Son Buster Speaks Out on Dad’s Murder Conviction in Tell-All Interview
6 regions targeted in biggest drone attack on Russia since it sent troops to Ukraine, officials say
Climate change makes wildfires in California more explosive