Virgin Galactic reduce empleos para respaldar fabricación de naves espaciales avanzadas.
Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a memo to employees Tuesday that uncertainty in the capital markets and geopolitical unrest have made «short-term access to capital much less favorable.» Not good news for a company like Virgin Galactic that has had to simultaneously focus on expanding commercial operations of its initial vehicles, the suborbital vehicle VSS Unity and the aircraft Eve, while working on creating a fleet of next-generation spacecraft the company calls Delta.
«The Delta ships are potent economic engines. To deploy them, we need to expand our strong financial position and decrease our reliance on unpredictable capital markets,» Colglazier said. «We will accomplish this, but it requires us to redirect our resources to the Delta ships and at the same time simplify and streamline our work outside of the Delta program.»
Colglazier added that the company will be calling each employee to confirm their job status, and these calls will continue through Thursday. The Orange County, California-based company had about 1,100 employees at the beginning of this year.
Virgin Galactic, which just completed its fifth commercial flight of the spaceplane VSS Unity, has previously said it aims to have Delta in commercial service by 2026, but this is almost certain to come at a hefty cost. While Virgin Galactic has not publicly stated how much it expects to spend to bring Delta ships online, the company has already spent many millions on research and development for the future fleet.
But getting the Delta ships operational is likely going to be critical if the company has any hope of achieving profitability. These ships are being designed to fly more frequently – up to 400 times a year – based on a «standardized production model» that will make their production and maintenance cheaper.
The company reported a net loss of $134.4 million at the end of the second quarter on $1.9 million in revenue. Virgin Galactic ended the quarter with about $980 million in cash and securities available.
Virgin Galactic did not provide further details about the layoffs, including the number of affected employees. More information will be provided during a third-quarter results conference call scheduled for Wednesday, the company said.
