Rocket Lab will acquire part of Virgin Orbit’s assets

The US-New Zealand company Rocket Lab, which operates one of the world’s only operating small space launchers, announced on Tuesday the acquisition of part of the assets of its bankrupt competitor, Virgin Orbit. The auction was won at $16.1 million, and the Rocket Lab bid, which is currently being finalized, aims to purchase a subsidiary of the British billionaire Richard Branson’s empire headquartered in Long Beach (California), “As well as some production assets, machinery and equipment in themRocket Lab says in a statement released on Tuesday. Its offer does not include Virgin Orbit launchers, nor the equipment needed to launch them, in particular the Boeing 747 on which small missiles are installed to shoot them down in flight. This process should enable Rocket Lab to more quickly produce its future Neutron launcher, a missile comparable to Russia’s Soyuz missile and far more powerful than the Electron, its current miniature launcher.

Electron, which has carried out 35 launches since 2018 from sites in New Zealand and the United States, can put 300 kilograms into low orbit, compared to 13 tons for Neutron scheduled for launch in 2024.This transaction represents an opportunity to save capital expenditures in order to increase our production capacity and bring the neutron quickly to the launch pad.Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck says in the press release. The fusee of 21 meters of Virgin Orbit, which is due from January 1st of the Boeing 747 at the large Cornouailles of Royaume-Uni, does not belong to its orbit, provoquant to each of the new satellites that transport and precipitate the chute of the a company. Created by Richard Branson in 2017, this subsidiary has previously successfully put 33 satellites into orbit.