Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit is laying off about 675 employees, or 85% of its workforce, as the air-launched rocket company failed to find funding to sustain its operations.
The Long Beach company plans to spend $8.8 million in severance payments and employee benefit costs, and an additional $6.5 million on outplacement services and other related costs, according to a company filing Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
To fund the severance and outplacement costs, Virgin Orbit sold a $10.9 million senior secured convertible note to Virgin Investments, the investment arm of Branson's Virgin Group, according to the filing.
