Proactive Investors - Shares in Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:VORB) are heading fast back to earth after a technical failure meant the company failed to take its commercial payloads into orbit, in what was meant to be the first orbital space launch from UK soil.
Takeoff using its converted Boeing (NYSE:BA) jumbo jet - nicknamed Cosmic Girl - from Spaceport Cornwall was successful and after reaching altitude the LauncherOne rocket was unclipped and ignited its engines.
It flew at hypersonic speeds and successfully reached space, before also completing the next stage of separation.
"At some point during the firing of the rocket’s second stage engine and with the rocket travelling at a speed of more than 11,000 miles per hour, the system experienced an anomaly, ending the mission prematurely," the company said, following the hasty deleting of a tweet and instead confirmed a damp squib that had meant to herald a new era for the UK space sector.
As we find out more, we're removing our previous tweet about reaching orbit. We'll share more info when we can.— Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit) January 9, 2023
Good news was that Cosmic Girl had, by the time of the anomaly, returned safely to Cornwall, while the UK Space Agency said the rocket and satellites would have burned up as they re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, most likely above the north Atlantic.
That included payloads for seven disappointed customers onboard the rocket, including the UK's Ministry of Defence, AAC Clyde Space, Airbus Defence and Space, In-Space Missions Ltd, RHEA Group, Satellite Applications Catapult, Space Forge, Poland’s SatRev and the Kingdom of Oman, which was expecting the mission to put its first-ever satellite into space.
This was bad news for a company that has been struggling financially, with an attempt to raise new funds abandoned in November due to the current tough stock market conditions, following a US$25mln cash top-up by founder Sir Richard Branson.
Virgin Orbit chief executive Dan Hart acknowledged that the company “failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve".
He hailed the “many things that we successfully achieved as part of this mission” and said only that “technical failure appears to have prevented us from delivering the final orbit”.
UK firsts
It was the company's first overseas mission and the first launch from Spaceport Cornwall, which only in November became the UK's first licensed spaceport under the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the nascent UK space launch sector's new regulator.
Melissa Thorpe, head of the Newquay-based converted airport, added: “We are so incredibly proud of everything we have achieved with our partners and friends across the space industry here in the UK and in the US – we made it to space – a UK first.
“Unfortunately we learned that Virgin Orbit experienced an anomaly which means we didn’t achieve a successful mission. Today we inspired millions, and we will continue to look to inspire millions more. Not just with our ambition but also with our fortitude. Yes, space is hard, but we are only just getting started.”
Matt Archer, director of commercial spaceflight at the UK Space Agency, said: “We have shown the UK is capable of launching into orbit, but the launch was not successful in reaching the required orbit. We will work closely with Virgin Orbit as they investigate what caused the anomaly in the coming days and weeks. While this result is disappointing, launching a spacecraft always carries significant risks.
“Despite this, the project has succeeded in creating a horizontal launch capability at Spaceport Cornwall, and we remain committed to becoming the leading provider of commercial small satellite launch in Europe by 2030, with vertical launches planned from Scotland.”
Virgin Orbit shares are set for a 22% fall when trading opens in New York on Tuesday, according to pre-market trading.
Analyst Susannah Streeter at Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) said it was “a major set-back" for Virgin Orbit and the spaceport.
“There had been high hopes that the operation would be the start of a brighter future for Virgin following the troubles which have beset the company since it became a publicly traded company, following the SPAC merger with Next Gen Acquisition in 2021."
She noted that the company's cash burn rate has been “huge, and the prospects for revenue have been significantly set back. While space may have been heralded as the new investment frontier, the ventures clearly come with a huge amount of risk."
But she said the problem was far from insurmountable, as the first stages of the operation seemed to go without a hitch, and suggested that it is “likely that fresh missions will be attempted once full investigations have been completed" and “does not fully dim Newquay’s prospects as a future space hub. However, as investment case, the flight ahead for space looks set to be volatile."
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