Virgin Galactic plans to lay off employees and cut expenses to save resources to develop a new generation of spacecraft

According to news on November 8, local time, Virgin Galactic announced that in order to develop a new generation of suborbital spacecraft, it will carry out personnel reductions and cost cuts

In a statement released on Tuesday, Virgin Galactic Announced "a strategic reorganization of the company's resources and plans to carry out related layoffs" in order to focus on the development of the Delta class spacecraft that the company has high hopes for.

Virgin Galactic did not disclose specific details such as the number of layoffs, saying that it is still notifying individual employees individually and will hold an earnings call on Wednesday local time. More information is available on .

Virgin Galactic announced that its facilities will be closed for the remainder of the week. According to Virgin Galactic’s annual report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February this year, as of the end of 2022, the company had a total of 1,166 employees

Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier (Michael Colglazier) A memo to employees stated that the company will conduct layoffs and other cost-cutting measures to save money so that it can focus on developing Delta-class spacecraft. The Delta-class spacecraft will fly more frequently than the existing VSS Unity spacecraft, and the flight cost will be lower. Koglazier also mentioned the market "uncertainty" caused by high interest rates and other factors. This uncertainty "makes access to capital significantly less likely in the short term," he said.

"Delta-class spacecraft are powerful economic engines," he wrote. "To bring these facilities into service, we need to strengthen our financial position and reduce our reliance on unpredictable capital markets." "We will Achieving this goal will require refocusing resources on the development of the Delta-class spacecraft while streamlining work outside the Delta program."

Virgin Galactic reported that at the end of the second quarter of this year, the company Holding $980 million in cash and equivalents, the company reported a net loss of $134.4 million during the same period. Virgin Galactic did not disclose the estimated development costs of the Delta-class spacecraft, but said the new spacecraft would enter service in 2026. The company says the revenue it can generate from VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo is limited because the spacecraft can only carry a maximum of four customers per month.

Virgin Galactic has previously taken other steps to reduce operating costs. In May this year, the company said it would delay the production of new aircraft to carry Delta-class spacecraft by about a year, and concluded that the "Cosmic Girl" (VMS Eve) aircraft currently used to carry VSS Unity Spaceship 2 It can also be used for test flights of Delta-class spacecraft. Prior to the introduction of the Delta-class spacecraft, the company had all but abandoned plans to field another spacecraft, the VSS Imagine.

In the memo, Koglazier did not elaborate on how the layoffs would affect VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo operations. On November 2, Virgin Galactic successfully completed the Galaxy 5 mission. The spacecraft carried two researchers and a private astronaut into suborbital space. This is the fifth commercial mission of the company's spacecraft and the last scheduled flight of the year as both the spacecraft and carrier aircraft enter their annual maintenance period. After completing the Galaxy 5 mission, Virgin Galactic stated that flights will resume operations in January next year

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