Bankrupt Virgin Orbit Sells Assets and Ceases Operations

Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson's satellite launch company, formally ceased operations in May 2023 after completing a bankruptcy auction that sold its remaining assets to three aerospace firms for a combined total of approximately $36 million. Rocket Lab acquired the Long Beach headquarters for $16.1 million, Stratolaunch purchased the modified 747 carrier aircraft for $17 million, and Vast's subsidiary Launcher bought the Mojave facility for $2.7 million.

The collapse came just months after a high-profile January 2023 mission failure in which the LauncherOne rocket malfunctioned during the first orbital launch attempt from the United Kingdom, destroying all nine satellites onboard. Virgin Orbit had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2023 after failing to secure emergency funding. The $36 million in proceeds represented less than 1% of the company's $3.7 billion valuation at its 2021 peak.

Virgin Orbit's carcass proved worth more in service than the auction price implied. The $17 million 747, renamed Spirit of Mojave, now carries Stratolaunch's Talon-A, which passed 10 hypersonic flights by July 22, 2026, with the Missile Defense Agency among its customers, per Space.com. The pattern that sank Virgin Orbit, schedules slipping faster than cash arrives, persists among its heirs: Vast, whose Launcher unit took the Mojave site, pushed Haven-1 to no earlier than the first quarter of 2027, Payload reported, and Virgin Galactic told investors on August 12 that its first Delta flight moves to February 2027 after losing nearly $56 million in the quarter. Watch whether the second Delta ship reaches Spaceport America by March 2027.