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Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Holdings (VORB.O) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday after the satellite launch company failed to secure the long-term funding needed to help it recover from a January rocket failure. The Long Beach, California-based company lodged the filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking a sale of its assets after announcing the layoff of roughly 85% of its 750 employees last week. “At this stage, we believe that the Chapter 11 process represents the best path forward ... Virgin Orbit went public in 2021 through a blank-check deal, raising $255 million...

NEWQUAY, England, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Britain's attempt to become the first European nation to launch satellites into space ended in bitter disappointment early on Tuesday when Virgin Orbit said its rocket had suffered an anomaly that prevented it from reaching orbit. The "horizontal launch" mission had left from the coastal town of Newquay in southwest England, with Virgin's LauncherOne rocket carried under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 called "Cosmic Girl"... ...Virgin Orbit had initially said on Twitter that LauncherOne had reached earth orbit, a tweet it later deleted.

A "marine hazard area" has been declared in an area of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of counties Kerry and Cork. The warning comes into effect at 22:00 local time on Monday. The Virgin Orbit mission is due to take off from Cornwall in England on Monday night. It is the first ever orbital space launch from British soil and if it is successful it will mark a major milestone for the UK space industry. The rocket is attached to a repurposed 747 jumbo jet owned by the British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, who also founded the US-based firm...

On Thursday, Virgin Orbit won a contract from the Air Force to carry "technology demonstration satellites" on its LauncherOne rocket by early 2019. The LauncherOne rocket will be "air launched" from a modified Boeing 747 called "Cosmic Girl." The contract follows Branson's quiet launch earlier this month of Vox Space, a subsidiary of Virgin Orbit, that will focus on military contracts. While there is plenty of room in space, the launchpad is becoming more crowded. That's good news for the Pentagon as it looks toward increased competition and embracing new technology like reusable rockets to lower launch costs. United Launch...