Virgin Orbit's Satellite Mission Fails, Sending Shares Down

Virgin Orbit's VORB-8.53% rocket failed to reach orbit on its maiden flight on Sunday, dealing a blow to the company's plans to send small satellites into space.The rocket, carried aloft by a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet, was released from the aircraft over the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles. Virgin Orbit said the rocket's first stage performed as expected, but the second stage failed to ignite."We will be conducting a thorough investigation of the root cause," said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart in a statement.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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Virgin Orbit's first attempt to launch a satellite from outside the United States failed, dealing a blow to Richard Branson's plans to compete in the rapidly growing commercial satellite launch market.
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After the company announced that an anomaly had prevented its satellites from reaching orbit, its shares fell more than 20% in off-hours trading on Monday.
The rocket was carrying nine small satellites, including ones for U.S., U.K. and Omani government agencies, and companies such as U.K.-based Horizon Technologies, Poland’s SatRevolution and Welsh space startup Space Forge. The satellites couldn’t be retrieved, the U.K. Space Agency said.
Monday's failed launch was a setback not just for the company involved, but also for the UK, which has been trying to increase its presence in the commercial space industry. The launch, which was supposed to take place from Cornwall, England, would have been the first time a satellite was launched into orbit from UK soil, and indeed from anywhere in Western Europe. The UK is in the process of building a number of spaceports and launchpads across the country, including in the southwest, where Monday's launch was supposed to originate.
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Virgin Orbit's "Start Me Up" launch was the company's first international mission, demonstrating that its unconventional launch strategy using a repurposed Boeing 747 can be operated from anywhere in the world. This launch method is cheaper and more flexible than traditional methods, making Virgin Orbit a key player in the new space race.
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The mission was designed to demonstrate that its launcher can operate from any airport in the world with a runway long enough to accommodate a Boeing 747. The launch method distinguishes it from most rivals, who use traditional spaceports that support vertical launches, such as Elon Musk's SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
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According to a September estimate from Deutsche Bank analysts, the size of the global launch market is expected to grow from $8 billion in 2022 to $35 billion by 2030. Virgin Orbit is the sister company of Virgin Galactic, a space-tourism venture founded by Sir Richard Branson.
The modified 747, nicknamed Cosmic Girl, took off at 10 p.m. local time carrying Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket under its left wing. The rocket was separated from the aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean off the southwestern coast of Ireland.
The rocket reached space a little over an hour after takeoff, but the company said on Twitter that the attempt was unsuccessful. With the rocket traveling at faster than 11,000 miles an hour, the company said an anomaly occurred “at some point during the firing of the rocket’s second stage engine” leading it to prematurely scrap the mission.
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"This was our first mission of this kind, so there were additional layers of complexity that our team handled professionally. However, it appears that a technical failure prevented us from achieving the final orbit."Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Dan Hart said this in a statement.
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Virgin Orbit's first attempt at sending a satellite into orbit in 2020 failed, but the company has since completed four successful missions.
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"We are deeply sorry that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve," Mr. Hart said. "We are committed to returning to orbit as soon as a full investigation into the failure has been completed."