Rocketplane filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy earlier this year. Unlike Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows the company to reorganize itself and its finances while continuing to function, Chapter 7 is about liquidation. With final financial assets worth roughly $400,000 and debts totaling more than $13 million, Rocketplane is no more.
Getting a new company off the ground at any time in any industry, of course, is a real challenge. Trying to start a company that would build commercial spaceships makes the task even tougher. Trying to steer such an effort through a worldwide financial disaster seems to have been beyond the ability of Rocketplane's leadershup. Other NewSpace companies have not simply survived the economic downturn, but are moving forward. That also suggests the leaders of Rocketplane may have made critical mistakes.
Thirteen million dollars is not an inordinate sum in modern business; thousands of individuals have that much money to invest, for example. The fact that no one looked at Rocketplane's patents and spaceship designs and at least kept the company afloat may also be telling.
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