Is Virgin Orbit's future secured after 30 indications of interest received?

The troubled space launch system, founded by Sir Richard Branson in 2017, Virgin Orbit has confirmed that more than 30 indications of interest have been received under the court-approved bid procedures of its Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection plan. 

The company said these letters of interest came from multiple parties that proposed to continue to operate the business as a going concern and retain current employees in an integrated enterprise.

Company CEO Dan Hart said: “I’m pleased with the number and quality of the indications of interest we’ve received, which we believe reflects the innovative ideas and hard work the team has put into the development of this unique system. I look forward to continuing to work with those who have expressed interest and other parties as we approach the final bid deadline.”  The bid deadline for final binding offers is set for later this month.

Of course, at this stage, it is by no means clear how realistic any of these indications of interest are, how they are to be financed or who they are from, although it is believed that Elon Musk's SpaceX is not one of those interested parties. 

Whilst the early phases of a buy-out continue, there is no guarantee that any winning bidder will continue to operate the Virgin Orbit business as a going concern, retain current employees or indeed result in any return to the company's shareholders. There is a little more hope on the horizon for the company than there was before. Also to that end,  the Virgin Orbit team is going ahead with the final integration of the next rocket toward launch, which is currently planned for later this year.

Virgin Orbit has already delivered commercial, civil, national security, and international satellites into orbit, via its Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rockets which are carried under the wing of a modified former Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 jet. 

The first launch from a UK base ended in disaster which has led the company to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the U.S. where it is based.

Jason Shaw said: "I think there is a future for Virgin Orbit, although,  maybe some fundamental changes might be needed to its delivery system.  I would have liked to have seen a better interaction between Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, I'm sure they could have found a way to fire LauncherOne from one of the Virgin Galactic launch aircraft, had they been more involved and entwined from the start." 

It is understood the UK Government is watching the situation with keen interest,  in 2019 the UK's Space Agency awarded the firm £7.35 million to enable it to operate from Cornwall Airport Newquay.    

A dislodged filter caused Virgin Orbit's failed UK launch it was revealed in April.