Virgin Orbit fails to launch, will end operations

(Long Beach, CA) -- Virgin Orbit is ending its operations "for the foreseeable future," the company said this week.

CEO Dan Hart said the satellite launch company was done in because it couldn't secure a funding lifeline.

Virgin Orbit will lay off 90-percent of its workforce, keeping only 100 employees working.

The company developed a system that uses a modified 747 to send satellites into space by dropping a rocket from under the jumbo jet's wing.

Virgin Orbit's last mission failed when launch problems kept the rocket from reaching orbit, instead crashing into the ocean.