8 Nov 2017
Virgin Orbit Response
8yWell, obviously no one likes a negative review. But let's take what we can from this! It's awesome to hear that even our harshest critic recognizes we foster our employees getting creative with their thoughts and their projects--that's something we really value.
On the turnover front: through Fall of 2017, our historic turnover rate is lower than industry average for an aerospace company, and dramatically lower than average for a young start-up like ourselves. We definitely had some changes at the senior level right as we became our own company with our own CEO, but even with that important transition, we remain more stable than average when compared to our peers.
On the safety front: it's obviously not true that no protocols are in place (this was presumably a bit of hyperbole—but we take safety incredibly seriously)! Our protocols are indeed quite extensive, given the nature of our business. We've also run them by external experts like our independent review teams, as well as (when appropriate) our regulators. That said, we can never and will never rest on our laurels; there is always room for improvement. We will do all that we can to find ways to make our factory and our systems even safer and more reliable.
On the performance front: The work is never done, and it goes without saying that over the years we will always continue to improve performance by every metric. But our current performance is proving satisfactory not only to our internal teams but to our customer base, which includes NASA, the US Department of Defense, SITAEL, Planet, OneWeb, Sky and Space
Global, Cloud Constellation Corp, and others not yet named.
We'll pass your comment about us being a PR and marketing driven project along to our actual PR and marketing team. Since they make up <1% of our workforce, no doubt they will want to quote this in their performance reviews!
But seriously, feedback--whether good or bad--is key to growth and improvement. Thanks for taking the time to write a review.
