Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:VORB) has been given another US$10mln funding top up by founder Sir Richard Branson.
His Virgin Investments Limited (VIL) vehicle late on Monday bought a senior secured convertible note, which can be converted into Virgin Orbit's shares in future.
It follows a US$25mln cash injection by Branson in November and another US$20mln top-up via a secured note in December.
The company said it will use the net proceeds for working capital, after an aborted mission last month when its converted jumbo jet took off successfully from the UK but its rocket failed to take its commercial payloads into orbit, in what was meant to be the first orbital space launch from UK soil.
The note bears interest at an annual rate of 12.0%, which is much higher than the notes issued late last year, and is not expected to last the company long given its net cash used in operations was US$46mln and negative cashflow was US$52mln in its most recent quarterly results.
Reports have noted that Virgin Orbit failed to raise equity capital and exhausted other fundraising options in November after pledging all of its assets to Branson in December as part of the security for the secured note.