SpaceX Rival Virgin Orbit Shutters Satellite Launch Business – SlashGear

Earlier this month, the company had put a pause on operations company-wide in a bid to sort its finances. Reports emerged earlier this month claiming that a Texan was reportedly in talks to invest approximately $200 million in the company, but those discussions never materialized, further deepening troubles for the company. Reuters reports that Virgin Group, which owns Virgin Orbit, injected nearly $50 million into the company, but apparently, that wasn’t enough to save the satellite launch upstart. Notably, this won’t be the first failure for Branson in recent times. Virgin Galactic has yet to kickstart its commercial spaceflight operations following multiple delays and snags. Plus, Virgin Galactic is burning through piles of cash without any success stories to show investors.

Branson was also quite bullish about Virgin Hyperloop which aimed to transport passengers across long distances through a vacuum tunnel at speeds of up to 760 miles per hour, but that idea also failed to catch on. With Virgin Orbit’s supposed failure, the race for commercial satellite launch further strengthens the position of Elon Musk-led SpaceX, which has quickly become a favorite of both private as well as government agencies. Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin is emerging as another serious contender in the field with big space commercialization ambitions, alongside Arianespace, United Launch Alliance, and Boeing Defence.