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posted by janrinok on Saturday January 22 2022, @02:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-longer-"Virgin" dept.

Rocket Report: Virgin Galactic's stock crash:

Financial trade publications are starting to raise serious questions about the valuation of Virgin Galactic, which became publicly traded in 2019 via a special-purpose acquisition company [SPAC]. The latest issue involves the company's plans to raise up to $425 million of convertible debt, which essentially allows Virgin Galactic to receive a lower interest rate on debt in exchange for a fixed price on stock shares. The Financial Times explains more here. Apparently, the terms of this deal (the financial wizardry of which is beyond the capacities of a simple space writer) were adverse for existing shareholders.

Publications have also started to take note of the stark disconnect between Virgin Galactic's projections at the time it went SPAC in 2019 and where it is today. For example, Virgin Galactic forecast $398 million in revenues in calendar year 2022, whereas analysts now expect it to bring in $7.9 million. "Let's just hope their aerospace engineering is a touch more precise than their financial engineering. For their customers' sake," the Financial Times says snarkily. Virgin Galactic's stock has fallen from a high of $59.41 in February 2021 to less than $10 today.

Virgin Orbit's [note: not Virgin Galactic] LauncherOne rocket lofted seven small satellites for three different customers on January 13, Space.com reports. This marks the third straight successful mission for the California-based company. LauncherOne flew for the first time in May 2020 on a test flight that carried no satellites. That launch failed after a fuel line in the rocket's first-stage engine ruptured.

Since then, Virgin Orbit's next three flights have all gone orbital. For a company just starting to launch rockets, one launch every six months is an impressive cadence. This month's flight really helps to establish LauncherOne's status as a reasonably timely and reliable small-satellite rocket.


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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 22 2022, @06:45PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 22 2022, @06:45PM (#1214835)

    Not quite. Branson bought Burt Rutan's ego trip without understanding the deep cultural problems within Scaled Composites. Burt absolutely hated automation and didn't respect the safety culture rocketry demands, and those flaws are still deeply ingrained in the company long after he left. Branson's fault is being unable to fix the problems he inherited. The telling part is the difference between Virgin Galactic (dumpster fire) and Virgin Orbit (respectable launch company), despite both being owned by the same man.

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  • (Score: 2) by driverless on Monday January 24 2022, @06:03AM

    by driverless (4770) on Monday January 24 2022, @06:03AM (#1215210)

    The telling part is the difference between Virgin Galactic (dumpster fire) and Virgin Orbit (respectable launch company)

    They really need to deal with this branding issue since it's needlessly hurting Virgin Orbit. Could I suggest renaming the other one to "Crusty Old Skank Galactic" so even investors will be able to understand which one to back?