Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder
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Richard Branson’s small satellite launcher Virgin Orbit has announced plans to go public via a SPAC listing on the Nasdaq exchange in a merger that brings in $483 million in cash and values the burgeoning space startup at $3.2 billion.
The merger with blank-check company NextGen Acquisition Corp. II comes after a strong run of success for Branson, including beating fellow space-race billionaire Jeff Bezos to near-space with his space tourism firm Virgin Galactic in July, which followed the successful first launch of a satellite payload by Virgin Orbit in January.
Virgin Orbit achieved a second successful launch in June, during which it deployed 17 satellites for clients including NASA, sparking rumors that Branson would waste no time in bringing the company to public markets on the back of the good news. It will be Branson’s second SPAC listing for a space startup, after he took Virgin…