Six years ago, Virgin Orbit's future seemed bright.
The fledgling rocket company had been spun off British billionaire Richard Branson's space tourism firm, Virgin Galactic, to take advantage of the burgeoning small-satellite launch market. There appeared to be plenty of business and plenty of money, especially with Branson's backing.
But in the last few months, behind the scenes, the Long Beach company was struggling to keep afloat.
