The first orbital space launch from UK soil has been pushed back again, with Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:VORB) delaying take-off until after Christmas.
Sir Richard Branson's company said it needed to complete "additional technical work" and decided it was not able to achieve the launch in the two-day launch window from next Wednesday.
Originally hoped to be in August or September, the debut space launch from England's southwestern tip – also the first commercial launch from Western Europe – was then moved to November before slipping into December, with a launch window said to have been offered for next Wednesday.
But chief executive Dan Hart said in a statement today: "With licences still outstanding for the launch itself and for the satellites within the payload, additional technical work needed to establish system health and readiness, and a very limited available launch window of only two days, we have determined that it is prudent to retarget launch for the coming weeks to allow ourselves and our stakeholders time to pave the way for full mission success."
While the launch site, Spaceport Cornwall, has been licenced by the UK Space Agency, neither Virgin Orbit nor the satellites it will carry into space have yet received licenses from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall told local BBC radio: "Some tests over the last 24 hours just meant we weren’t quite there yet and we just had to make a call to look at it after Christmas. [...] But it is the right decision and it is not a question of 'if' but 'when'."
She said the launch still remained "just weeks away; we are not taking our foot off the pedal at all."
No launch next week folks.
We go again after Santa has done his thing.
Space is flippin hard.
But so, so worth it. https://t.co/fqLbUji1VZ
— Melissa Thorpe (@MelsGoodSpace) December 8, 2022
The delays are to be expected with it being the first launch for Spaceport Cornwall, but may be embarrassing for Virgin Orbit, which marketed its US$12mln-a-pop rockets as able to launch responsively with just days of notice.
As well as technical issues for Virgin Orbit on the mission it has dubbed 'Start Me Up', it was also recently forced to abandon its attempt to raise new funds due to the current tough stock market conditions, even though it had just been bunged a US$25mln cash top-up by founder Branson.
Less than a year since raking in US$228mln from its post-Christmas merger with a New York-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), it has burned through to US$71.2mln as of last month and its shares have plunged 65% this year.
Virgin Orbit has also cut its forecast number of launches for next year down to just three, having previously forecast between four and six, with its backlog of binding contracts falling 12% to US$143mln.