Hello and welcome back to Max Q!
In this issue:
An “operational pause” at Virgin Orbit
Behold: New moon suits!
News from Project Kuiper and more
CNBC broke the bombshell news that Virgin Orbit was pausing operations for at least a week while it looked for funding to support the business. As part of that pause, company executives reportedly told staff in an all-hands meeting that they were being furloughed — and that it would be unpaid. (Read TC’s Devin Coldewey’s take on this news here.)
The news isn’t exactly a surprise. Virgin Orbit’s financial woes have been discussed and dissected by the media for months — including here at TechCrunch — with many wondering how the company could sustainably continue operations.
That the news isn’t a surprise is exactly the problem.
Image Credits: Virgin Orbit/Greg Robinson
NASA and Axiom Space just showed off the latest iteration of the spacesuit astronauts will wear on the surface of …
