The space company Virgin Orbit will cease operations. This was reported by CNBC, citing its own sources.

During an employee meeting, Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said the corporation would be closed for the "foreseeable future." “Unfortunately, we were unable to find funding to provide a clear path for the company,” Hart explained the closure of the project. Virgin Orbit was founded by billionaire Richard Branson and offers launch services for the LauncherOne air-launched rocket.

According to the CEO, the company had no choice but to make "immediate, dramatic and extremely painful changes." From the speech of the head of Virgin Orbit, it follows that the company will lay off almost all employees - 875 people, or 90 percent of the workers employed in it.

Back in mid-March, Virgin Orbit suspended its operations for at least a week. Then the company explained this decision with financial difficulties.

Earlier it became known that Virgin Orbit began to seek funding to continue work. In particular, the firm was in talks with venture capital fund Matthew Brown to raise up to $200 million through a private placement.