Space Perspectives, a Titusville, Fla.–based startup backed by Richard Branson, has furloughed nearly its entire workforce amid cash constraints.
The company, which hopes to fly people to the stratosphere in a balloon-like spaceship, still has $90,000 in outstanding rent from late last year, according to a complaint by the city’s airport authority, Bloomberg reported.
In early December, Space Perspective was slapped with a notice to make the payment it owed or risk losing its leases and being evicted by the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority.
The cash-strapped Space Perspective temporarily let go of most of its 140-person team in response to the financial pressure, telling the outlet that it was preparing for a round of funding.
Representatives at Space Perspective didn’t immediately return Fortune’s request for comment.
Branson has invested an undisclosed amount in Space Perspective as part of the $100 million it has raised so far. The company specializes in space tourism, unlike Branson’s New York–listed aerospace company Virgin Galactic.
The billionaire British entrepreneur previously established world records in 1987 and 1991, for his Transatlantic and Transpacific journeys in a hot air balloon, respectively.
In October, Space Perspective announced that Branson would be one of the copilots on its first crewed flight to the stratosphere. At the time, the company touted that it was “entering its next phase of growth.”
The company’s CEO Michael Savage argued the job cuts are very much temporary.
“We’re not shut down. There is a skeleton team continuing to work, with the goal to bring back the broader team the minute we have financing,” he told Florida Today last week, adding that the scaling-up process can be tricky.
Savage also alluded to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s previous headcount cuts, which are all part of the space travel industry’s “high-risk, high-reward” model.
Although Space Perspective is still running test flights, it sold over 1,600 seats by July 2023 worth $200 million. Tickets cost $125,000 per person for a six-hour trip to space, with the luxury of food, drinks, and even Wi-Fi.
Branson has been a successful entrepreneur in various industries, launching ventures such as his own music label (Virgin Records) and passenger airline (Virgin Atlantic). While some of his endeavors have boomed, others have struggled and folded, like the now-defunct satellite business Virgin Orbit.
“His decision to invest in and fly with Space Perspective signals that we are the future of space tourism, and our vision is worth backing,” Hunter Abramson, the strategic growth chief at Space Perspective, said of Branson’s backing last month, according to Globetrender.
Space Perspective successfully completed an uncrewed test flight in September, soaring 100,000 feet above the ground. It’s among the growing number of companies vying for a piece of the space tourism industry.
Still, it is unclear whether the company will truly take off and succeed in its edge-of-space joyrides amid financial troubles.
