Virgin Orbit raises $10 million as financial stopgap
Summary
The notes, now including the initial unsecured one in November, are secured by Virgin Orbits assets, giving VIL first-priority security interest to those assets, including its Boeing 747 aircraft. If Virgin Orbit defaults on the notes, it stated in its SEC filing, VIL is entitled to, among other things, foreclose on the assets that are the subject of the security interest.Virgin Orbit did not disclose additional details about this latest funding, including why it raised this amount at this time. A company spokesperson, asked about the funding, referred back to the SEC filing.The company has been facing a cash crunch for some time given ongoing losses and dwindling cash reserves. Even with the money raised from VIL, its current rate of losses could put the company at risk of running out of cash as soon as the second quarter unless it can secure additional funding.Those problems are exacerbated by a failure on Virgin Orbits most recent LauncherOne mission Jan. 9, its first launch from the United Kingdom. The company said Jan. 12 that the rockets upper stage suffered an unspecified anomaly that caused a premature shutdown, preventing the vehicle from reaching orbit.Virgin Orbit has not provided any updates on the status of the investigation or return-to-flight plans since its Jan. 12 statement.