Virgin Orbit blames rocket failure on dislodged filter

Former satellite launching company also files detailed plans for bankruptcy

A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 plane carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket at Spaceport Cornwall, Newquay. PA

A dislodged filter led to the failure of Virgin Orbit's mission in January, it said, a fault which not only caused the rocket to crash into the Atlantic Ocean, but also ultimately brought the company down with it.

The mission, which was called Start Me Up in reference to the song by the Rolling Stones, ended when Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket failed to reach orbit, taking its payload of commercial and defence-related satellites into the sea.

"Ground test results matched flight data, confirming the dislodging of the filter as the initiation event of the January launch failure," Virgin Orbit said.

Had the mission been a success, Virgin Orbit had planned another launch from California later in the year, but the failure led to a funding crisis and forced bankruptcy on the company.

In an interview with the Washington Post, chief executive Dan Hart said the company burnt through hundreds of millions of dollars, but only produced a handful of successful launches.

Asset sale

Founded by Richard Branson, the company this month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US state of Delaware.

On Wednesday, the company filed a plan for bankruptcy, in which it proposed a deadline of May 4 for indications of interest for its assets.

Virgin Orbit also asked the court to set a bid deadline for those assets of May 14.

"We expect the filing of the plan and disclosure statement will help us to efficiently conclude the Chapter 11 process once we have completed the sale of the company," Mr Hart said.