Virgin Orbit to cease operations, sell assets of Richard Branson's satellite launcher

Virgin Orbit will cease operations and sell its assets to four winning bidders, the company announced late Tuesday. Those bidders include three aerospace companies — Rocket Lab, Stratolaunch and Vast Space subsidiary Launcher — with combined bids totaling almost $36 million, according to court documents. The move to sell and cease operations comes less than two months after the satellite launch start-up filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and cut about 85% of the company's workforce. The satellite launcher faced increased difficulty raising funding following a failed international mission earlier this year.