Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a failed mission and increasing difficulty in raising funding for future operations.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is letting go of almost its entire work force with the satellite launch company finding it difficult to secure funding three months after a failed mission.

Virgin Orbit says it is pausing all operations amid reports that the company is furloughing almost all its staff as part of a bid to seek a funding lifeline.

Virgin Orbit says its first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the U.K. failed after its rocket’s upper stage prematurely shut down.

British officials and space scientists say they are disappointed but not deterred after the first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the U.K. ended in failure.

Virgin Orbit says a mission to launch the first satellites into orbit from Western Europe has suffered an “anomaly."

A privately designed, unmanned rocket built to carry satellites into orbit exploded in a fireball off the California coast.

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit has delivered satellites from three countries into space.

(AP Photo/Matt Hartman)LOS ANGELES – Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit reached space on Sunday, eight months after the first demonstration flight of its air-launched rocket system failed, the company said. “According to telemetry, LauncherOne has reached orbit!” Virgin Orbit tweeted later. Virgin Orbit touts the flexibility of its capability to begin its missions by using airports around the globe. Virgin Orbit attempted its first demonstration launch in May 2020. Virgin Orbit is separate from Virgin Galactic, the company founded by Branson to carry passengers on suborbital hops in which they will experience the sensations and sights of spaceflight.

Virgin Orbit said an engine shutdown kept the 70-foot-long LauncherOne rocket from reaching orbit during an air launch last May. This time, Richard Branson’s company hopes to send 10 NASA satellites into space. Virgin Orbit plans to eventually send commercial and government satellites to the Moon, Mars, Venus, and even asteroids. For this mission, some of the NASA satellites on board are designed to study the weather in space and pick up space debris. “We are working vigorously and looking at all the details making sure we have the best shot possible to get to orbit,” Hart said.

Colwell and UCF planetary scientist Addie Dove are co-investigators on the project that has previously flown twice with Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will be carried by plane or “mothership” called VMS Eve taking off from New Mexico’s spaceport. Virgin Orbit, a sister Virgin company, is set to launch its first operational mission which includes science selected by NASA, including UCF’s Q-PACE small satellite. Q-PACE is another small payload with mighty research goals: to help scientists understand how planets formed. Virgin Orbit is targeting launch before the end of the year.