Why Virgin Orbit Failed

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  • Опубліковано 5 січ 2025

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  • @regolith1350
    @regolith1350 Рік тому +342

    "What went wrong with the Richard Branson company that once held so much promise?"
    Your premise is wrong. Virgin Orbit never had much promise nor a good business model. It was fundamentally limited and handicapped from day one. That's why some 80% of the SPAC investors pulled their money out before the IPO. They knew it was a dog.
    There is no giant market for dedicated small launchers. No one is gonna launch a constellation of hundreds or thousands of satellites ONE SATELLITE at a time - that would be like shipping each Nike sneaker from the factory on its own boat across the Pacific. And most non-constellation customers with a single small sat are perfectly happy to go for a cheap rideshare on a big rocket (Falcon 9 Transporter, India's PSLV). Even Rocket Lab - the most successful small launcher - makes the majority of its revenue from space systems, components and the like, not from launch. There's no money in dedicated small launch, which is why EVERY SINGLE small launch company is working on larger rockets.
    But Virgin Orbit could never build a bigger rocket, because they already launch from a stripped-down 747, at the limit of its capability. Also, as an air-launched system, Virgin's rocket had to be structurally reinforced for both horizontal AND vertical loads, increasing weight & complexity and further reducing payload capacity. Lastly, Virgin spent a billion dollars developing a small rocket that can only bring in $12-15M per launch. There was no way they were gonna get enough customers or launch frequently enough to recoup their development costs. Their business case never added up. Bankruptcy was always a question of when, not if.

    • @Fishmans
      @Fishmans Рік тому +20

      Good arguments, except a small thing about SPACs. SPAC investors didn't pull out because the company had bad fundamentals, they pulled out because the hype had soured on SPACs. In 2020-21, any horrible company would see a >100% increase upon SPAC listing. The speculative market was gone by the time Virgin went public. If they'd gone out 6 months early, they likely would have raised a couple hundred million extra, which would've helped them survive longer.

    • @archigoel
      @archigoel Рік тому +16

      True, you really need a technical CEO in the rocket business. All the startups have very technical CEO's.

    • @mofosoto
      @mofosoto Рік тому +20

      This is a classic Richard Branson business model: raise as much as he can of other people's money and keep raising money. I don't think he ever has a goal of making a real profitable business. Just a company that has the ability to borrow as much as he can so he can say he's a billionaire.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      Very good post. Excellent presentation of facts to support your argument. I find the collapse of Virgin Orbit sad but, as you say, inevitable. I did not know that Rocket Lab had expanded into the space systems business. That is very interesting and explains why they have not run into the same problems that brought down VO. Obviously, VO could have done the same but, apparently, somebody lacked the vision.

    • @hugolindum7728
      @hugolindum7728 3 місяці тому

      But Branson was good at getting governments to invest.

  • @chengong388
    @chengong388 Рік тому +458

    What went wrong is the fact that launching from a plane still requires like 95% the delta V as launching from ground.

    • @wayando
      @wayando Рік тому +14

      So they only save 5% of the rocket fuel? ... How much is that in $?

    • @devonwilliams2423
      @devonwilliams2423 Рік тому +41

      @@wayando when you aim to save 5% and fail to even succeed.
      The only person i know who can do alot with 5% is ethan klien, according to Trisha

    • @krishmalhotratalks
      @krishmalhotratalks Рік тому +33

      @@wayando 5% efficiency is actually really good, the delta v is different from rocket fuel saved

    • @wayando
      @wayando Рік тому +4

      @@krishmalhotratalks ... Isn't that just a fancy way of saying "change in speed" ... Which is a longer way of saying acceleration/ deceleration? ... Which in money terms means amount of fuel?

    • @chengong388
      @chengong388 Рік тому +44

      ​@@wayando it saves more than 5% rocket fuel because if you can have 5% less acceleration, your rocket can be lighter, which saves more fuel for the entire stage. However that doesn't matter because fuel is cheap, the rocket is expensive. Launching from air to save $500 worth of fuel on your small rocket so you can spend $1000 on the jet fuel and $5000 on the maintenances of the airplane, makes absoletely no sense.

  • @greg.anywhere
    @greg.anywhere Рік тому +246

    I live in Long Beach, California, and I pass by the Long Beach Airport often, and there is a Virgin Orbit 747 that's been sitting there for years now. I've never seen it fly, or move from it's parking spot.

    • @jesseguevara
      @jesseguevara Рік тому +3

      Likewise.

    • @robert-nc9lc
      @robert-nc9lc Рік тому +27

      That's where it parks in between launches, you must not have noticed for an entire month while it was in Mojave, for a few launches.

    • @Chicago48
      @Chicago48 Рік тому +8

      NOTHING BETTER FOR HIM TO DO WITH HIS MONEY. Waste it on rockets. The reason for all this climate change and horrific storms is because the rockets going into space.

    • @tardisgradeuniverse383
      @tardisgradeuniverse383 Рік тому +34

      ​@@Chicago48 yikes... It's not even worth having a discussion with a boomer on your lvl. You win 😂

    • @pforce9
      @pforce9 Рік тому

      You can dial into Space any day of the week and those guys are running around like ants. When they are not launching, they are building, and when they are not building or launching, they are moving rockets around like a kid, playing with models and sometime they add fuel and take it out. the point is that they are always working while Sir richard and Jeff Bezos are partying and riding up and down on suborbital rockets and passing out astronaut wings, elon Musk was working his behind off. Jeff Bezos is next.

  • @cowtheslice
    @cowtheslice Рік тому +105

    Love how SpaceX is touted as a competitor when they are competing in a completely different weight class.

    • @zeramino
      @zeramino Рік тому +14

      They really are a competitor with their "share ride" program.

    • @flaviosalatino8192
      @flaviosalatino8192 Рік тому +15

      Love how everyone thinks that someone on the planet is competing with SpaceX, when SpaceX alone in 2022 launched into orbit 95% of the commercial payload of the world and the same mass of everyone combined...twice over, and probably did all of this at a fraction of the cost of the rest of the planet. It's the same people who thinks that Tesla has competition, when Tesla is selling you a 48k$ cars that they make for 33k ( Q1 results of 4) days ago, meanwhile the competition is selling you a 60k car with worse specs, and that cost them 85k to make ( hello -40%-margins-on-EVs-Ford).

    • @alt8791
      @alt8791 Рік тому +2

      Did you guys miss the entire section on SpaceX offering rideshares? SpaceX flies the Transporter missions which carry dozens of smallsats each

    • @winnipeg21
      @winnipeg21 Рік тому +1

      ​@@alt8791 even so virgin orbit would only be able to fly 1 or 2 of them. Spacex is easily doing 5 if not more (depending on size of course) at a fraction of the cost. Virgin orbits only marketing is you don't have to wait a year for others to sign up for a ride share. Spacex isn't competing in this space. Merely just picking up what slack is left

    • @hugolindum7728
      @hugolindum7728 2 місяці тому

      @@winnipeg21
      “The maximum number of satellites that SpaceX has launched on a single Falcon 9 rocket is 60.”

  • @Zero11235
    @Zero11235 Рік тому +36

    So, you’re telling me throwing money at something without a plan, doesn’t guarantee success … I’m shocked 🤣

    • @joet7136
      @joet7136 Рік тому +2

      Pretty much any politician's mo.

    • @foobarmaximus3506
      @foobarmaximus3506 Рік тому

      @@joet7136 Totally off-topic. This isn't about politics, Mr TrollBot

  • @Raptorman0909
    @Raptorman0909 Рік тому +75

    The space race heated up when two billionaires, at nearly the same time, created new rocket companies and began developing new rockets. Sometime later another group of billionaires decided to get into the business and this is where Branson comes in. He saw what SpaceX in particular was doing and wanted the street cred that comes with being a billionaire rocket company owner. Along the way Musk got Branson to also play follow the leader with the Hyperloop and in the end Branson is going to lose tens of billions trying to play along. The jury's still out on Bezos but after more than 20 years in the rocket business (he started Blu Origin before Musk and SpaceX) he's yet to put even a single microgram into orbit!

    • @DirtFather407
      @DirtFather407 Рік тому +6

      Blue Origin has sent people into space, as has Virgin Galactic and Space X. They’ve all accomplished that but it’s gonna be hard to do it repeatedly and safely

    • @Raptorman0909
      @Raptorman0909 Рік тому +28

      @@DirtFather407 Blue Origin has not put even a single microgram in orbit -- getting to space they way they have requires about 1/8 the dV required for orbit. But even that underestimates the challenge of getting into orbit as the rocket needed to provide 8 times the dV of New Shepard is way more than 8 times larger. BO is a joke!

    • @jason4275
      @jason4275 Рік тому

      @@DirtFather407 the scientists, engineers working for them knows these billionaires have no passion when it comes to space and only doing it for the attention, Its a complete waste of money and gas, musk is putting satellites into space so he's at least doing something, space tourism will never be a thing in our lifetime.

    • @luther0013
      @luther0013 Рік тому +3

      I hate having to explain this. Blue Origin was started as a space think tank not a rocket company. Around 2010 they started to transition to the idea of building rocket engines for other companies and then chose the make rockets themselves.
      While Blue Origin has not put anything in orbit yet they have flown dozens of NASA payloads on New Shepard including landing sensors that will be used in the Artemis program.

    • @Raptorman0909
      @Raptorman0909 Рік тому +5

      @@luther0013 What the hell is a space think tank? Can their be anything more dilettante that owning a space think tank?

  • @alp1738
    @alp1738 Рік тому +2

    6:11 voiceover says launches remain stagnant since 2017 at the same time as showing a chart showing an almost doubling of small satellite launches in the most recent year. Top journalism guys 👏

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      I think that was almost entirely due to SpaceX Starlink launches, and they provide their own service. Outside of that, there hasn't been nearly as much growth in the small launch market as was anticipated a few years ago and SpaceX and ISRO, with rideshares, and Rocket Lab, are able to service the entire market. VO had no competitive advantage in payload or price, and their ability to launch from anywhere in the world was not that attractive in the market.

  • @benardpatrick9482
    @benardpatrick9482 Рік тому +102

    I have been buying some stocks since the beginning of the year, but nothing substantial. Why am I treating this poorly? However, people in the same profession are earning six figures on articles, which inspires me to aim toward becoming the first person in my polygamous family to hit the million dollar mark. I am perfectly aware that working harder to gain more money is expensive.

    • @justinajoshua9369
      @justinajoshua9369 Рік тому

      Nothing you're doing is wrong; you simply lack the knowledge to profit in a bear market. The only people who may earn greatly during dangerous times like these are professionals with vast knowledge who must have observed the 2008 crisis.

    • @justinajoshua9369
      @justinajoshua9369 Рік тому

      My consultant is *"JAMES GIFF GIFFORD"* .I found him on a CNBC interview where he was featured and reached out to him afterwards. he has since provided entry and exit points on the securities I focus on. You can look him up online if you care supervision. I basically follow his trade pattern and haven’t regretted doing so.

    • @kosztaz87
      @kosztaz87 Рік тому +5

      People, this is a SCAM thread, all bot comments, please for the love of god do NOT fall for this sort of crap!!! These crypto/investment etc. advisors are all scammers.

    • @outdoorsy6322
      @outdoorsy6322 Рік тому

      Downvote/dislike these bots/scammers guys.

    • @patsprankcalls
      @patsprankcalls Рік тому +4

      Scambots

  • @yuglesstube
    @yuglesstube Рік тому +12

    It ran out of money.
    Interestingly, research proves that this is the primary reason businesses fail.

    • @gdutfulkbhh7537
      @gdutfulkbhh7537 Рік тому

      Hmm... in many cases, running out of liquidity is the problem. A company might still be worth a fortune, on paper (e.g. holding key patents, but unable to pay this year’s tax bill). I don’t think the Virgin outfit has much of value, though.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      @@gdutfulkbhh7537 Nope, they were sold off for a total of about $36 million.

  • @flyingpanhandle
    @flyingpanhandle Рік тому +14

    Video could just be, "Branson likes to fake it till he makes it".
    Space travel is hard, they were trying to do something no one else does. It could work, but Branson doesn't work like that. He normally enters markets where there are other players, flash it up and bit, then cash out.
    Paul Allen probably would have done a better job. Or another backer with more conviction.

    • @AtillatheFun
      @AtillatheFun Рік тому +1

      Paul could have done many things. He was a true master of execution. His loss is a loss for many industries who now rely on FOMO and memes.

    • @marks6663
      @marks6663 5 місяців тому

      I would like to see Paul Allen's business card.

  • @Y.Js_musical_journey
    @Y.Js_musical_journey Рік тому +22

    they saw it coming a while back, which would explain why they spun it off from virgin galactic

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      No, it spun ff because orbital satellite launch is a very different business from suborbital tourist hops. It made little sense to have those two businesses under the same management. If they had known it could not be profitable, Virgin Galactic would have simply stopped work on it. Now, given that Orbital ATK's Pegasus rocket had already been forced out of the market, even if it was technically still listed as active, there was a great deal of skepticism that VO could be made to work, but the Virgin Group are not so stupid as to pursue a business they know will fail.

  • @apok1980
    @apok1980 Рік тому +36

    I think the commercial space industry has rapidly been evolving. It seems like Virgin Orbit had less capability. Also, 2 out of 6 failures is not great. They basically seem like a company still heavily in the R&D phase with an anemic roadmap. I know that sounds brutal, but it seems like the commercial space industry growth will be highly influenced by two things. One, reduction in cost for weight to orbit, and 2 the ability to move smaller things or people to orbit in hours, not months or days. I think that’s what makes companies in the game more successful.

    • @doctorpanigrahi9975
      @doctorpanigrahi9975 Рік тому +1

      Actually currently people can go to orbit in minutes, Docking with ISS requires anywhere between 6 to 72 hours.

    • @apok1980
      @apok1980 Рік тому

      I’m referring to the logistics involved with a launch. If you wanted to do an emergency launch like get a satellite up or deliver supplies, you would most likely be paying for the vehicle as well as cost involved to bump other companies or govs. If a company had a proven ability to launch with minimal notice, that would fill a niche.

    • @doctorpanigrahi9975
      @doctorpanigrahi9975 Рік тому +1

      @@apok1980 Launching big Rockets require permits, Good weather and hardware inspections , So they are not in the same league as aeroplanes ,but in 2022 SpaceX launched approximately One Rocket in every 6 days ! So that's as frequent as it can get.
      Mid-size Rockets like Falcon 9 and Gslv mk 3(Indian) cost 67 million dollars and their payloads may cost beyond a billion dollars ,so you should not be taking risk to ramp up launch frequency.

  • @johnathanmann1120
    @johnathanmann1120 Рік тому +11

    I think it’s a basic economics principle. There’s only so much small sat launch demand, and far more small sat launch supply than there is demand. There are too many launch providers.

    • @gabrielkovacs1276
      @gabrielkovacs1276 Рік тому +1

      This is something I have also realized and it is interesting that most space commentators don't mention this. Most small sat launch startups are going to fail even if they successfully develop their launch vehicles.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      It was anticipated that there would be a very significant increase in the small sat market and perhaps there has been but not enough to support even half a dozen providers. There are something over a hundred companies calling themselves small sat launch providers. the vast majority of these have yet to bend metal and they never will.
      Relativity and ABL have both had failed test launches. Astra tried to become operational but after five failures in seven launches shut down to work on a bigger, better rocket. That left exactly four in the small sat market. SpaceX and ISRO both doing rideshares and neither of them dependent on small sat revenues for their existence, one being a government agency and the other the globally dominant launch provider. Rocket Lab, which expanded their business to providing payload components to satellite builders which, as I understand it, now provides the bulk of their revenue, and who is developing a medium lift rocket, and Virgin Orbit, which was wholly and solely dependent on launch operations for their revenue. And now there are three. This probably shows the necessary path other small sat launchers are going to have to follow. Find some other source of revenue to support your launch operations while you develop a medium lift rocket to try to challenge SpaceX. The enormous explosion in the small sat market may still occur, but the great majority of them are going to be content with the smaller price of getting a rideshare on a medium or heavy lift rocket rather than paying for special treatment on a small launcher.

  • @reginaldpoofta5
    @reginaldpoofta5 Рік тому +1

    Judging by other Virgin companies such as virgin mobile and virgin atlantic its no wonder virgin galactic failed. What surprises me is how Brenson is still in business with his other brands.

  • @amdalasfoor
    @amdalasfoor Рік тому +8

    typos mistake ... 10:48 (Nov 2023 !! ?) now its April 2023

    • @wayando
      @wayando Рік тому

      It has not happened yet ... We are seeing the future.

  • @aftdude2180
    @aftdude2180 Рік тому +1

    As a Rocklet Lab investor, this is excellent.

  • @stevenjohnson891
    @stevenjohnson891 Рік тому +4

    It failed because you can find a clip of Jim Cramer saying it's a buy

  • @gavinnorthants
    @gavinnorthants Рік тому +1

    The comment at 6:17, about rockets getting bigger, and launching multiple satellites from one rocket, therefore reducing the cost per satellite. Seemed like the nail in the coffin, as Virgin Orbits rockets were now old, and too small. They, therefore, could not compete without a redesign, which Virgin Orbit didn't have the money for.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      Even with a redesign, a horizontal launcher launching a single small payload cannot compete with a larger, vertical launcher able to launch multiple small payloads at a time. The flexibility of launch location and scheduling VO offered just wasn't that attractive in the market.

  • @ryllismannix6702
    @ryllismannix6702 Рік тому

    Failure teaches us to dust ourselves off and try again. Any experience is valuable. So we should be grateful for it and move on with expectancy! You will rise again. The competition is rife.

  • @msoldate
    @msoldate Рік тому +1

    Delivering few launches, going ipo on the spac, not raising enough money, and the last recorded positive news from the CEO was from 2 years ago that’s an issue

  • @alfe1402
    @alfe1402 Рік тому +5

    It didn't fail. Branson was to the space, that was the whole thing.
    Rich guy with his fullfil desires.

    • @jondoh3471
      @jondoh3471 Рік тому +1

      He went to space and cashed out $500mil in stocks after he landed back on earth.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      You are confusing Virgin Orbit with Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic, somewhat surprisingly, is still in business and ready to begin commercial operations. We will see how long they last.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      @@jondoh3471 That was Virgin Galactic, not Orbit.

  • @stevej7139
    @stevej7139 Рік тому +12

    I knew one of the engineers that went to work for them about 5 years ago after leaving SpaceX, that sucks they are going under.

    • @Cris.tianmartinez
      @Cris.tianmartinez Рік тому +3

      I also knew of people who left space x for Virgin orbit

    • @chuckscott-cy7iq
      @chuckscott-cy7iq Рік тому +3

      Even geniuses make poor decisions sometime huh.

  • @Matteinko
    @Matteinko Рік тому +1

    at 10:46 They are a citing a news article from the FUTURE!!! From Nov. 7, 2023 !

    • @danielm6341
      @danielm6341 Рік тому +1

      CNBC publishes interesting articles, but I think they use interns to compile these videos. The quality control issues are something of a trend throughout the channel.

  • @peter0702
    @peter0702 Рік тому +1

    The issue is the speed. Satellites stays up there due to their speed, launch from an aircraft limits the fuel it carries.

  • @justayoutuber1906
    @justayoutuber1906 Рік тому +4

    Saudi Arabia is asking if Virgin Orbit has anything to do with the 72 Virgins in Heaven

  • @martincday007
    @martincday007 Рік тому +4

    Whether or not Virgin Orbit was ever a viable business it's objective was relatively modest and it seems a lot of effort just for it to collapse after one debut flight failed.

    • @no_rubbernecking
      @no_rubbernecking Рік тому +1

      7:28 "In total, the company launched six missions, four of which were successful and two of which failed."

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      The failure of the Cornwall flight did not cause the bankruptcy. Had it succeeded, they might have held on a while longer, but really not more than a few weeks.

    • @no_rubbernecking
      @no_rubbernecking Рік тому

      @@odysseusrex5908 Why would that have to be the case? Wasn't it largely owned by a man with an estimated net worth over £2 billion?

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому +1

      @@no_rubbernecking Well, actually, the primary, maybe sole, owner was the SPAC that had acquired VO to let them go public. That said, I'm not sure what Branson's net worth is, but there is a big difference between net worth and cash on hand. Branson's net worth is the values of the stock he holds in his various businesses. That is not money he has in a vault somewhere. Either way though, he had made it plain he was not going to support the company any more. The last $25 million he put into it was a loan with the airplane and other tangible assets being put up as collateral. When the boss starts treating you like that, you are in big trouble.

    • @no_rubbernecking
      @no_rubbernecking Рік тому

      @@odysseusrex5908 Granted, but any idea what they were doing wrong that Branson felt was beyond fixing?

  • @willvandeusen7130
    @willvandeusen7130 Рік тому

    I love how these places can raise a billion dollars and then it just goes in the trash. Never ceases to amaze me the things people will invest in

  • @theotheronethere4391
    @theotheronethere4391 Рік тому +1

    Very simple actually
    SpaceX and Blue Origin are afloat to a large degree because both are large government contractors. NASA/DoD/DARPA have doled out billions of dollars to both companies for rockets, engines, supply runs to ISS and future projects (like a moon lander). All the "fun stuff" like space tourism or mission to Mars are small side projects to their core business and are funded indirectly because of those large government contracts stated before.
    Virgin Orbit's problem is that their entire business is the "fun stuff" and without the government dollars they can't stay afloat.

  • @whurdoondees
    @whurdoondees Рік тому +1

    Michael Sheetz can write articles about the future 😮
    10:45

  • @smartbaba1321
    @smartbaba1321 Рік тому +1

    Virgin orbit should start from India, here Govt has allowed Pvt sector in space...
    Many players are coming in..

  • @raymondramos7968
    @raymondramos7968 Рік тому +2

    It’s possible though it only needs some improvements and could be proven profitable

  • @ChrisHarmon1
    @ChrisHarmon1 Рік тому +2

    They seemed to have just spent money and did nothing. Launching rockets to space had been researched in past on at least 2 occasions that I know of. Last time it was ditched was due to the fuel volatility if I recall correctly but also it's benefits just don't add up. How about a launch ramp up the side of Mt Chimborazo, now lets get an IPO going. 🤑

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      The Pegasus rocket, developed by Orbital Sciences Corp. was actually the first privately developed launcher to achieve orbit, long before SpaceX was even a gleam in Elon Musk's eye. They had a pretty good launch cadence through the 1990s but gradually tailed off in the 2000s due to competition from other providers, particularly SpaceX. Northrop Grumman now owns the system, having bought Orbital-ATK, and lists it as active but it has flown all of four times in the last ten years, the last time in 2021, and they have no launches planned. So, while it has not, technically, been ditched, I doubt it will ever fly again.

  • @justrandomthings319
    @justrandomthings319 Рік тому +1

    Classic example of growing too fast for your own good. There was no need for them to go public or hire so many people when they didn't have the revenue to support it.

  • @h8GW
    @h8GW Рік тому +1

    When the head of a conglomerate refuses to continue to financially support a startup company of that conglomerate, you know that company's boned.

  • @danajorgensen1358
    @danajorgensen1358 Рік тому +4

    13+ minutes is an awful long time to say "Because Richard Branson was running the company".

  • @deeremeyer1749
    @deeremeyer1749 Рік тому

    Virgin Orbit surely did "spin out" but the actual term for making a corporate business division or department "go solo" as its own standalone company - usually as a "risk management" measure post-merger when a "blue chip" company acquires a "tech firm" - is SPIN OFF.
    None of that is applicable in the case of Virgin...whatever. The whole purpose of the "spin out" was PR and creating the illusion of a "publicly traded" Virgin "subsidiary" with "adults" in the boardroom and an actual "entrepreneur" with his "own money" and actual billions in "liquidity" to "invest" during the company "launch".

  • @dsdy1205
    @dsdy1205 Рік тому

    It's so weird having only heard all of these space reporters' voices on podcasts and then suddenly seeing their faces for the first time

  • @williamhaynes7089
    @williamhaynes7089 Рік тому +1

    Theese loses are pocket change, i am going to bankruptcy court and buying this thing and taking it private... Ill be ultra rich when i fix it

  • @flaviosalatino8192
    @flaviosalatino8192 Рік тому

    Love how everyone thinks that someone on the planet is competing with SpaceX, when SpaceX alone in 2022 launched into orbit 95% of the commercial payload of the world and the same mass of everyone combined...twice over, and probably did all of this at a fraction of the cost of the rest of the planet. It's the same people who thinks that Tesla has competition, when Tesla is selling you a 48k$ cars that they make for 33k ( Q1 results of 4) days ago, meanwhile the competition is selling you a 60k car with worse specs, and that cost them 85k to make ( hello -40%-margins-on-EVs-Ford).
    Virgin didn't have any plan that made sense in a world were you can piggyback on a falcon 9 that launches 3 times a week

  • @mbaxter22
    @mbaxter22 Рік тому

    This sort of thing (such as the various SSTO designs) will no doubt make a comeback only after the next huge leap in propulsion tech...

  • @Nordic_Mechanic
    @Nordic_Mechanic Рік тому +2

    Most scientists: We told you so !

  • @nicholasczech6973
    @nicholasczech6973 Рік тому +1

    No money equals no business. You can barrow quite a bit but at some point you have to turn a profit.

  • @AdmiralBonetoPick
    @AdmiralBonetoPick Рік тому

    "If the satellite gets shot down they won't have to wait six months to launch a replacement..."
    Um, yeah they would probably need to spend some time constructing the replacement satellite - I doubt they have warehouses full of spares.

  • @TooMuch637
    @TooMuch637 Рік тому

    I love getting Virgin Airlines and Voyages ads when waiting for this video to stay. Lol

  • @tibsyy895
    @tibsyy895 Рік тому

    The typical representation of 0% interest rates, central bankers madness, QE, euphoria, and easy money era.

  • @renerene852
    @renerene852 Рік тому

    Virgin orbit business model was a compromise. A halfway measure to compete in a field where innovation is king . Branson played in a game with half a deck

  • @youtubehandlesareridiculous
    @youtubehandlesareridiculous Рік тому +1

    I guess we need chad orbit

  • @Gsoda35
    @Gsoda35 Рік тому

    I do believe they need to improve the quality control and solve the technical problems before the company become profitable.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      The company is out of business and was when you posted this.

  • @fallguyjames
    @fallguyjames Рік тому +6

    So a multi billion dollar company creates another LLC company. Asks money from investors. Then declares bankruptcy to be paid by taxpayers?

  • @stevederp9801
    @stevederp9801 Рік тому

    Ok you’re all wrong. Richard Branson has been talking about going to space and having space tourism for like 20-30 years. He was way before musk and bezos. The problem is that realistically you need government contracts in order to afford enough launches. So they couldn’t get past that last step. He also got to space like he wanted to. So he really doesn’t care any more.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      Well, he may not care anymore, in which case I have very little respect for him, but his space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, is still in business. It is his small sat orbital launch company, Virgin Orbit, which has collapsed.

  • @DotJerk-hr7lq
    @DotJerk-hr7lq Рік тому +1

    Railroad tracks and fly it. The dam things lands half the time.

  • @LeongGunners
    @LeongGunners Рік тому +3

    Say, even if they stick to it, persevere, and build a complete orbital launch vehicle that does exactly what they envisioned. That would be great... except now, instead of self-proclaiming to be in, they're now officially in the same race as SpaceX. Could they actually beat the Falcon 9 competitively? Not to mention, SpaceX is already beginning their actual test launch phase of Starship.
    Only an imbecile of an investor would not bail as soon as they can...

  • @Firestorm637
    @Firestorm637 Рік тому

    With inflation and high interest rates, start ups and small companies end up spending more on finances and less money R&D/innovation. Money more expensive now. Space x can launch 60 Starlink satellites at one time. Starship can launch many times more. Branson is a billionaire. He could contribute more. High interest rates means less money being thrown at new startups

  • @ps3301
    @ps3301 Рік тому +1

    The problem of virgin ? They don't have Elon musk as their ceo. Richard Branson is too poor to run rocket company

    • @khel9505
      @khel9505 Рік тому

      Nope. Branson are just like bezos no work of ethics!!!

  • @deeremeyer1749
    @deeremeyer1749 Рік тому

    Ah yes. If only "fundraising" had met expectations the company would have fluorished. It had nothing to do with failed "engineering".

  • @claytonturner1385
    @claytonturner1385 Рік тому +2

    Branson and his brother went into space and now they could care less. He had to tell his investors something to get the money for it

    • @patsprankcalls
      @patsprankcalls Рік тому

      You're thinking of Jeff Bezos. But yes Branson went to space as well.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      You are confusing Virgin Orbit, which is the company that went out of business, with both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, both of which are still in business.

  • @Lucas-yy3dh
    @Lucas-yy3dh Рік тому +3

    Oh yes, money well spent so that one rich guy could get to space.

  • @ronnonyabizness5240
    @ronnonyabizness5240 Рік тому

    Retitled this article to "Why I sold my stock in Virgin Galactic".

  • @Bluelagoonstudios
    @Bluelagoonstudios Рік тому

    Too much competition, and not backed up by governments, is good enough to fail. Too little to get a fair amount of profit. And Branson is a dreamer. When he talked about space travels, I already knew this was a dead-born child.

  • @2003년1월토정비결전생

    Oh! Now i saw the front part of the news, an interviewee explaing a merger with a spac firm with an aim to raise capital on the market.
    I thought spac deals are just deals.. not some kind of listing procedure..
    technically, the company in question did a merger with a spac firm.. not going public on the stock market.
    Well, in some way, it could be said, a sort of indirect listing ᆢin a convenient way..though.
    Admittedly, i thought vergin orbit was a listed company..
    By the way, with the acquisition, on whose name, capital is raised, on the stock market?
    Sorry about the pestering with questions^^

  • @staticmin3
    @staticmin3 Рік тому

    Cause the CEO and Upper management took too much money out of the company that should have went to development, simple.

  • @Bertrand146
    @Bertrand146 Рік тому

    The only British capable of sending something into space is Harry Kane...

  • @jamesraymond1158
    @jamesraymond1158 Рік тому

    excellent reporting

  • @fmo94jos8v3
    @fmo94jos8v3 Рік тому +1

    This is sad. I wished to see multiple billionaires competing in space industry. Sad to see VO go bankrupt.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      Yes, it's sad, but it was inevitable. They never had a viable business model. Even if their last launch had been successful, that would only have delayed matters a few weeks.

  • @semmicolon
    @semmicolon Рік тому +2

    10:47 Nov 2023.... wait what ?

    • @dannydaw59
      @dannydaw59 Рік тому +1

      Ya that's weird. Maybe they meant 2022.

  • @joshuakosch6475
    @joshuakosch6475 Рік тому

    the employees screwed things up on purpose. now their all fired. 3 companies picked up orbit who already have enough people.

  • @desistang8794
    @desistang8794 Рік тому

    Ya they were focused on creating high value and taking the company public and dumping the shares on people than working on engineering and mission success.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      Hmm, I don't think the engineers would agree with you there.

  • @digitalevidenceexpert7964
    @digitalevidenceexpert7964 Рік тому +2

    They completely missed out on a revenue stream. They should have sold seats on the 747 for people to witness the launch itself. These seats would have brought in additional revenue needed to help the company survive.

    • @gdutfulkbhh7537
      @gdutfulkbhh7537 Рік тому

      Certification and insurance prohibits this, I’m sure. Also, you’d see nothing. Maybe just to say “I was there”.

  • @johniii8147
    @johniii8147 Рік тому +11

    It failed as most of Branson's things do.

    • @dannydaw59
      @dannydaw59 Рік тому +4

      Virgin Galactic is next. They haven't done anything since that 1st flight.

    • @Pau_Pau9
      @Pau_Pau9 Рік тому

      Not as good as the first time, heh?

  • @Jags22079
    @Jags22079 Рік тому

    Looks like Virgin needs a lecture or two from the mighty ISRO

  • @henrynguyen5142
    @henrynguyen5142 Рік тому

    10:45 Nov 7th, 2023???

  • @franklinegbuche7097
    @franklinegbuche7097 Рік тому

    What went wrong is me failing to see what was supposed to go right in the first place.
    For something that offers a shorted, fun, and very expensive trip, it wasn't meant to be viable.
    This will matter in the future not now.
    It will matter when space technology has advanced so much that prices are a fraction of what SpaceX charge per cargo today. Then you will have a lot of people paying for that short, fun trip to orbit.

    • @tjsbbi
      @tjsbbi Рік тому

      Are you confusing Virgin Orbit with Virgin Galactic? They are two distinct companies.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      Virgin Orbit, which went bankrupt, flew small payloads to orbit on small rockets. Virgin Galactic, which wants to fly people on suborbital flights aboard a spaceplane, is still in business and expects to finally commence operations next month. We will see how long they last. Good luck to them though.

  • @marcus_b1
    @marcus_b1 Рік тому +3

    If I had the investment capital and wanted to get into this market I would 100% PURCHASE this company. Purchasing them would put someone at least 5-10 years ahead of starting from zero. They require REAL leadership. Damn what an opportunity.

    • @wayando
      @wayando Рік тому

      Purchasing an already developed system from a money hungry billionaire who has put in loads of man-hours?! ... You'd get totally ripped of!
      I guess that's why no one is buying it! 😂😂😂 ... Am sure there are plenty of people who are able, and have a use for the system ... But the deal is no bueno!

    • @marcus_b1
      @marcus_b1 Рік тому

      @@wayando That's your opinion based on your thinking such as it is.....

    • @lime221-zu8ur
      @lime221-zu8ur Рік тому +2

      Commercial space travel will be akin to the airline business in a few years; in other words a capitalist graveyard.

    • @foobarmaximus3506
      @foobarmaximus3506 Рік тому

      @@marcus_b1 He's right.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      @@wayando Well, Virgin was in absolutely no position to negotiate. A bankruptcy sale is an auction. the actual owners of the bankrupt entity don't get any money out of it. All they get is their debts cancelled while their creditors get whatever money is bid, which doesn't come close to making them whole. In this case, from the point of view of an outsider with no real knowledge of the industry, it looks as though the company could have been operated profitably once shorn of all its debt but, obviously, industry insiders disagreed.

  • @mikafiltenborg7572
    @mikafiltenborg7572 Рік тому +1

    SpaceX 😎👍 for the win 🚀

  • @kiloflegge7805
    @kiloflegge7805 Рік тому

    How was one of the articles written in Nov. 7th of 2023?

  • @dacnguyen1499
    @dacnguyen1499 Місяць тому

    I'm looking to buy the Virgin Orbit from Richard Branson Companies Virgin Orbit to Invention technology ideas for Aerospace

  • @KS-xz2rq
    @KS-xz2rq Рік тому +12

    There is no way these companies can compete with India's state owned ISRO in multiple small and medium satellite launches in terms of success rate and cost efficiency.

    • @jason4275
      @jason4275 Рік тому +4

      Indian space companies will most likely buy them out.

    • @foobarmaximus3506
      @foobarmaximus3506 Рік тому +3

      lolol Right.

    • @Asoka-great
      @Asoka-great Рік тому +1

      This False Bravado is not good.

    • @uap24
      @uap24 Рік тому

      ISRO launches only a few times every year, but manages to load a large amount of satellites onto a launch vehicle. That is one way to reduce launch costs.

  • @iamnormal8648
    @iamnormal8648 Рік тому

    With too many institutions launching too many satellites, I am wondering when will the satellites start colliding in space?

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      Never. Space is really, really big and we track everything that gets launched.

  • @SandcastleAndy
    @SandcastleAndy Рік тому

    virgin selling an idea rather than actually knowing how to do it branson/bezos model

  • @DotJerk-hr7lq
    @DotJerk-hr7lq Рік тому

    Bet? Bet it is more successful considering the launch pad doesn't need total rebuild

  • @JovenAlbarida
    @JovenAlbarida Рік тому

    Not all Virgin was success, some really fail to find the right man

  • @Charles-Darwin
    @Charles-Darwin Рік тому

    Same old: "We can make a better, smaller CD player using x-tech".... 2nd guy: "Naw, no CDs will be around after the MP3 player ya doof". 1st guy: "People will never settle for not owning their CDs or paying again for their music". 2nd guy: "Well you can go down trying then"

  • @anjalicgirl
    @anjalicgirl Рік тому +5

    They got out-competed by ISRO, which offers a lower cost and more reliable satellite launch service for smaller payloads.

  • @2003년1월토정비결전생

    As far as i understand, spac deals are conducted between a business which has not been listed and a spac company,ie, a listed shell company,right?
    but in the middle of the news, the reporter said
    "vergin orbit went public via spac??"
    If i might have been wrong about companies deals with spac companies ..could anybody tell me what was that about the deal?

  • @nanuarora2401
    @nanuarora2401 Рік тому

    I see Spacex vs all others in the future(Blue Origin, LM/NG etc.)

  • @distorta
    @distorta Рік тому

    They spent way too long in the beginning trying to capitalize on luxury space travel . The Virgin Galactic plane was never luxurious as a private jet and they spent way too much on something that quickly lost its novelty for bored rich people. They shifted too late to the private satellite sector to adjust for the miscalculation

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      Virgin Orbit was a spinoff of Virgin Galactic. The fortunes of the one had nothing to do with those of the other. Virgin Galactic is still in business and about to begin commercial operations.

    • @distorta
      @distorta Рік тому

      @@odysseusrex5908 Its a vertical integrated business, they are connected. Virgin Galactic came first and would have funded Orbit, but it couldn't, because Virgin Galactic never brought in the tourism factor it was supposed to. They rely heavily on private funding unlike Spacex who gets government and military contracts.

    • @odysseusrex5908
      @odysseusrex5908 Рік тому

      @@distorta No, it is not vertically integrated and once VO was spun off it was a completely separate corporation. There was no connection between them.

  • @byteme9718
    @byteme9718 Рік тому

    Just like all his other failed projects he will personally benefit while wasting investors money. The UK government should have jailed him for his massive VAT fraud in the early 1970's. He's a con man, nothing more.

  • @pentegarn1
    @pentegarn1 Рік тому

    I'm so sick of these old style rockets....strapping a bomb to a capsule. I want to fly a Tick Tack!

  • @bitcoinheist7831
    @bitcoinheist7831 Рік тому +3

    Cosmic girl is no more virgin

  • @joshjohnson8459
    @joshjohnson8459 Рік тому

    Who were the SPACs? That's what I want to know.

  • @MrBakedDaily
    @MrBakedDaily Рік тому +1

    Did anyone think anything else would happen look at the cell service.

  • @boracaypanay
    @boracaypanay Рік тому

    Good for him!Bravo!

  • @arvintechguru
    @arvintechguru Рік тому

    I feel bad for richard brandson but BBC should look at its tail becuase they asked India why they are investing in space program instead of feeding its people.

    • @gg-ps1vz
      @gg-ps1vz Рік тому

      so when did Virgin Orbit become the UK space agency?

  • @obbie1osias467
    @obbie1osias467 Рік тому +1

    Just like Bezos, Branson is not a rocket scientist like Elon Musk! I know some of you will argue that Musk is not (tachnically) a rocket scientist. It only means you never heard him talk about rocket engines and how they are built and how they work. For me, that alone qualifies Elon as a rocket scientist.

    • @HabitualLine-Stepper
      @HabitualLine-Stepper Рік тому

      @obbie1osias467 If you watched the video, you'd see recognise that, rather than 'rocket scientist', Elon Musk is just more popular/a better salesman.
      Further, Branson didn't care enough to save Orbit when he can take his millions and invest in a competitor.

    • @obbie1osias467
      @obbie1osias467 Рік тому

      @@HabitualLine-Stepper Do you understand rcoket science? Try some videos where Elon explains how rockets work. He's not just a salesman like Branson and Bezos. He actually knows how his products are made and has a lot of say about how to make them.

    • @HabitualLine-Stepper
      @HabitualLine-Stepper Рік тому

      @obbie1osias467 So you really believe that SpaceX outlived Orbit because Musk knows more about rockets than Bezos or Branson?
      OK..............

    • @zichenglong6992
      @zichenglong6992 Рік тому

      ​@@obbie1osias467 Still doesn't make him a rocket scientist for sure though. He's also not a chemical engineer nor computer vision scientist just because he can talk about Tesla vehicles. He does care enough to at least learn high-level concepts to talk about them, I'd give you that.

    • @obbie1osias467
      @obbie1osias467 Рік тому

      @@zichenglong6992 What?😳😳😳 Really???🤣🤣🤣

  • @忍者-v3x
    @忍者-v3x Рік тому

    CNBC is the most interesting UA-cam Channel by far. The videos are incredible. They are really interesting and educational. They research things really well. Thank you CNBC

  • @hugolindum7728
    @hugolindum7728 3 місяці тому

    Branson is fantastic at extracting funds for his private businesses from governments. Runs off with the money, declares bankruptcy.

  • @ThisPageIntentionallyLeftBlank

    Their Casino and Cruise Line aren’t performing very well either.
    I for one would welcome the return of Virgin Airlines to American skies. Seems like since they sold VA they’ve been struggling. Hyperloop. Dead. Virgin Orbit, dead. Their casino is awful. Their cruise ships are designed by someone who has never been on a cruise. What’s next?

  • @alex46215
    @alex46215 Рік тому +1

    6:31 is that dude... CGI??

    • @DarkZerol
      @DarkZerol Рік тому +1

      He is using some camera software filter. Loads of streamers does this these day if they do not have time for makeup or never bother cosmetically prepping themselves.

  • @rvw3022
    @rvw3022 Рік тому

    This company never had promise. Branson was jealous and wanted to be better than Musk with SpaceX.

  • @DanBYoungOldMiner
    @DanBYoungOldMiner Рік тому

    How much cargo can it carry if the rocket had wings and does a point to point sub-orbital flight and is100% reusable? WHEN IT HAS TO BE THERE YESTERDAY, could be their slogan.