California-based Virgin Orbit is a small satellite launch service company and spin-off from Virgin Galactic that has received a USD 10 million infusion from Virgin Investments Limited (VIL) in the form of senior secured convertible note, according to a filing with the SEC on January 30th. Proceeds are to be used for working capital requirements of the company and do not disclose any further details about the funding. 

This is the third instance where Virgin Orbit has raised funding from VIL. The company raised USD 25 million in the form of senior unsecured convertible note in November 2022, and another USD 20 million in senior secured convertible note in December 2022. The first two notes carry an interest rate of 6% each, with the latest note having a rate of 12%.

Analyst QuickTake: While the company exceeded analyst expectations and raised USD 30.9 million in revenue in Q3 2021, its net losses widened by 13% YoY, reaching USD 43.6 million. Although Virgin Orbit expected to double its 2022 launch rate in 2023, it faced a disappointing start with the failure of its LauncherOne mission from the UK and has not yet provided any updates on the investigation. Since its first successful flight in January 2021, the company has only had three more completed missions, whereas its competitors’ (such as SpaceX) launch numbers are in the double digits; this slow pace of launches is bound to affect Virgin Orbit negatively.