Vector Launch

Bankruptcy

On December 13, 2019, Vector Launch Inc. and one affiliated company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. It was revealed that the August layoffs had been precipitated by the withdrawal of financial support by Sequoia Capital, one of the company's largest investors, which led other potential investors to back out of an upcoming funding round in a domino effect. Vector has filed a motion with the court for approval to sell its assets pursuant to Section 363 of the US bankruptcy code (a provision that allows for the orderly sale of assets from a bankrupt estate). The stalking horse bidder is Lockheed Martin.[25] Lockheed Martin acquired Vector's GalacticSky assets by default after a bankruptcy court received no qualified bids.[26] Another bidder acquired the remaining launch vehicle assets.

On October 29, 2020, Vector re-emerged with a new CEO to focus the company on suborbital and orbital flight.

Post-bankruptcy

On October 29, 2020, Robert Spalding announced that Vector Launch is "focused on suborbital, and eventually orbital flight" and is targeting both the governmental and commercial sectors.[27]

On January 11, 2021, Vector's remaining shareholders unanimously voted on a wind down plan.[28]

On October 11, 2022, Vector announced their renewed focus on national security related missions as well as the addition of Shaun Coleman, Vector's original investor and former General Manager of GalacticSky to their new board of directors [29]

On March 7, 2023, U.S. Rocket engine provider Ursa Major Technologies announced that they would supply several 5,000-pound thrust "Hadley" engines to power the main stage of Vector-R launch vehicles to demonstrate capabilities for future national security missions. [30]

Launchers

The company plans[31] to provide launch services with two rockets, the smaller Vector-R, and the larger Vector-H. Both rockets use a single engine for their second stage and a cluster of engines (three in the Vector-R and six in the Vector-H) for their first stage, all of which use LOX and propylene as propellants.[32]

Vector planned to recover the first stage of its rockets for reuse.[8][9] Other notable design features include a carbon fiber structure, some 3D printed engine parts, minimal infrastructure launch pads, and a fast launch cadence, which the company had hoped to reach 100 launches per year.[10][20][33] The first client of Vector was Iceye, a company in Finland.[34]

GalacticSky

Vector developed a patented[35] software-defined satellite operating system called GalacticSky so that its planned micro-satellites can run different applications. Managed by Vector's initial investor and co-founder Shaun Coleman[36] GalacticSky was intended to allow customers to quickly test software applications for satellites without having to develop their own hardware.[14][15][37] Over 40 patents were issued for GalacticSky and its capabilities [38] Following a lawsuit filed by Vector against Lockheed Martin for violating GalacticSky patents[39][40][41] and Vector's bankruptcy, Lockheed Martin expressed interest in acquiring GalacticSky for $2.5 million, assuming no higher bidder appears.[25]

Several members of the former GalacticSky team including the primary author of many of its patents[35] and a Vector co-founder, chief sales/marketing officer and SVP/general manager of GalacticSky, Shaun Coleman,[40][42][43] former GalacticSky VP of engineering John Metzger, former Vector chief revenue officer, and Lockheed VP of Advanced programs[44] Robert Cleave[45] have since founded NewSpace Networks,[46] a company focused on extending the cloud and making satellite networks more efficient.[47][48][49] NewSpace Networks intends to bid for the GalacticSky assets against Lockheed Martin.[50] Ultimately the GalacticSky technology was acquired by Lockheed Martin.[51]