Shares in Virgin Orbit fell by more than 40 per cent in after-hours trading in New York, following speculation that the satellite-launching company has run out of funding.
The business is set to cut 675 jobs, or close to 85 per cent of the workforce, with founder Richard Branson saying he will inject about £9 million to cover severance costs.
A Virgin Orbit representative said the remaining 15 per cent of employees would work on winding down the business.
The Financial Times earlier reported that Virgin Orbit's chief executive Dan Hart was scrambling to secure a last-minute funding deal that could stop the company from collapsing.
At one point in late trading on Thursday in New York, Virgin Orbit shares were priced at 19 cents. A year ago, they were changing hands for about $7 each.
Earlier this year, a Virgin Orbit rocket failed to complete the first satellite launch from UK soil.
California-based Virgin Orbit put all its operations on hold earlier this month as it sought extra funding.
In US regulatory filings, the company confirmed the job cuts “in order to reduce expenses in light of the company's inability to secure meaningful funding”.
Virgin Orbit said the layoffs would affect workers in the “all areas” of the company.
It expects total severance payments to staff and other related costs to be about $15 million (£12.1 million).
“Space looks increasingly like a frontier too far for investors, with Virgin Orbit crashing to earth as it fails to secure new funding, sees nearly the whole workforce laid off and ceases operating for the foreseeable future,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“In more bullish markets, the promise of developing a commercial satellite launch business might have been enough to excite but not in these more sober times.
“Attention may now turn to its more established space tourism sister business, Virgin Galactic, which has lost more than 60 per cent of its value over the last year.”
Unlike rivals that launch rockets from the ground, Virgin Orbit uses a technique known as air launch, in which its LauncherOne rocket is released at a high altitude from underneath the wing of a modified Boeing 747 aircraft.
The company began developing the rocket at Virgin Galactic, years before the satellite-launch business was formally created.
Virgin Orbit successfully launched its first mission into orbit in January 2021 and later completed four successful flights.
The company had planned to increase the number of launches this year but had to reassess after a mission in January failed, following an in-flight problem with a fuel filter that led to the loss of the rocket and the nine small satellites it was carrying.
If it had been a success, the mission would have been the first orbital launch from British soil.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
WORLD CUP SEMI-FINALS
England v New Zealand (Saturday, 12pm)
Wales v South Africa (Sunday, 1pm)
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
