IN MEMORY OF VIRGIN ORBIT

On 9 January 2023, as Spain’s Canary Islands settled into the darkness and quiet of the Western European midnight hour, a camera operated by the Spanish Meteor Network captured a spectacular fireball descending through Earth’s atmosphere. Notwithstanding its uncanny resemblance to a meteor, the phenomenon was, in fact, a doomed Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket and its payload of nine satellites, plunging as one toward the North Atlantic and a watery mass grave.

Moments after its release from a specially modified Boeing 747-400 dubbed 'Cosmic Girl', the LauncherOne rocket experienced an anomaly, leading to the premature shutdown of its second-stage engine and consequent failure to attain orbit. Within hours of the rocket's loss, a joint investigation of the mishap was undertaken by Virgin Orbit, the US Federal Aviation Administration, the US Department of Defence (DOD), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Because Cosmic Girl had departed British soil, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch and Civil Aviation Authority took part in the investigation as well. In the end, the mission's failure was attributed to a faulty fuel filter. However, a great deal more than a single LauncherOne rocket and nine satellites burned up and sank that January night. Within minutes of the mission's failure, live steamed worldwide Virgin Orbit shares lost nearly 25-percent of their value.

A scramble for funding ensued, during which on 15 March Virgin orbit paused operations and furloughed the majority of its employees. On or about 23 March, venture capitalist Matthew Brown said he had been engaged in negotiations to invest US$200 million in the cash-strapped and faltering Virgin Orbit. Regrettably, negotiations broke down and on Thursday, 30 March 2023, following an announcement that the company had failed to secure 'meaningful funding' Virgin Orbit announced it would shut down operations and lay off 675 of its 775 employees. Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart made the fateful announcement during an all-hands company meeting.