Virgin Orbit

How it happened

Virgin Orbit was Richard Branson's air-launch satellite company, using a modified 747 to send small rockets to orbit, valued at ~$3.7B after its 2021 SPAC listing. A high-profile launch failure, mounting losses, and a failed last-minute funding effort left it out of cash. Employees loved the mission to the end — reviews posted in bankruptcy month still ran four and five stars — but blamed leadership rather than the rocket: insiders called the UK launch a premature gamble and said hiring, construction, and aircraft purchases never slowed as the money ran out. An abrupt furlough preceded an ~85% layoff that caught week-old hires; it filed for bankruptcy in April 2023, wiping out nearly all value.

Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗. See our methodology.