Start-up space launch company Vector has run into financial trouble. Vector Launch Inc, announced, on 9 August, that it was “undertaking a pause in operations” following a “significant change in financing”. This coincides with the departure of founder and CEO Jim Cantrell, and his replacement by co-founder John Garvey. It has also been reported that employees of the firm have been locked out of its offices and laid off.
Vector had, until recently, been planning to conduct a sub-orbital test in the fourth quarter of the year, to be followed by the first orbital launch of its Vector-R small launch vehicle in Q1 2020. It had also just announced that it had received a US$3.4 million contract for the ASLON-45 spacecraft delivery mission from the US Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center.
Comment by David Todd: Critics of Vector have privately expressed doubts to Seradata about its technology, expertise and readiness. Nevertheless, these events were a surprise to us and the market given that Vector had previously been successful in raising financing and gaining orders.
Corporate logo of Vector Launch Inc.
