Virgin Orbit is pausing operations for a week and seeking funding

Space company Virgin Orbit is suspending its activities for a week while it looks for financing, CNBC reports. In the meantime, almost all employees are being sent on unpaid leave. The company will release an update in the coming weeks.

Virgin Orbit would have informed its staff about the situation on Wednesday evening, sources report to CNBC. A small team will continue to work for the next week, while the rest will be sent on unpaid leave. Employees will have the option to take paid vacation days. The company wants to provide an update on the mandatory leave and the financing situation next Wednesday or Thursday, insiders report. A spokesperson for the company confirms to CNBC that it is taking an “operational pause” and that the company will provide “an update on further activities in the coming weeks.”

The American space company has been struggling with financial problems for some time. The company posted a quarterly loss of $42.9 million in early November. At the time, the company still had $71.2 million in cash. In the current quarter, the company raised $55 million in financing in the form of debt from parent company Virgin Group’s investment arm.

In January, Virgin Orbit made its sixth space mission and its first from the UK, using a converted Boeing to launch a rocket carrying satellites. That launch attempt failed due to a premature failure of the rocket stage ignition, causing the rocket to crash into the ocean. According to the company it was due to a loose fuel filter. Virgin Orbit said in January that its research was “almost complete” and that “the next production rocket with appropriate modifications” was in the final stages of integration and testing.