The modified Boeing 747 airplane, named “Cosmic Girl”, will take off from Spaceport Cornwall in southwest England.
Hugh Hastings / Stringer / Getty Images
Bankrupt rocket firm Virgin Orbit offered its assets and tools to a trio of aerospace firms in an auction, in accordance to a courtroom submitting launched on Tuesday.
The bids quantity to about $36 million in complete.
Rocket Lab efficiently bid $16.1 million for the corporate’s “equipment & tools and lease,” in accordance to the submitting, whereas Stratolaunch was awarded its $17 million “stalking horse” bid for Virgin Orbit’s 747 jet. Launcher, a subsidiary of Vast Space, is buying the corporate’s facility in Mojave, California —in addition to some equipment, tools and stock — for $2.7 million.
Virgin Orbit, Rocket Lab, Stratolaunch, and Launcher didn’t instantly reply to CNBC requests for remark.
Previously in the bankruptcy course of, Virgin Orbit agreed to the phrases of Stratolaunch’s bid, which was to buy the 747 jet “Cosmic Girl” and different plane assets. Stratolaunch has been developig its personal airborne system, the world’s largest airplane referred to as “Roc,” as a platform for hypersonic flight testing.
Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy safety on April 4 after the company failed to secure a funding lifeline and laid off almost its total workforce. The auction final result falls in need of Virgin Orbit’s objective in the bankruptcy course of, which was to discover a wholesale purchaser that will preserve the corporate’s assets and mental property collectively.
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