Virgin Orbit Earns AS9100 Certification, Building on its Perfect Satellite Launch Record

The Performance Review Institute (PRI) Registrar recently certified Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) as having met stringent international standards. This achievement promotes Virgin Orbit’s ongoing commitment to satisfying stakeholders, and the Company’s dedication to continual improvement of its quality management system.

The globally recognized AS9100 standard builds upon the ISO 9000 family of quality management systems, incorporating critical requirements established by the aerospace industry. These combined factors collectively satisfy U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) quality requirements.

“With 33 satellites delivered to space and each positioned precisely in their chosen orbit, we have shown the capability and quality of our launch system,” said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. “Our focus now is building on that track record even as we scale up production at our factory and as we bring our launch operations to new facilities like Spaceport Cornwall. Through this AS9100 certification we’ve formalized and tested our system to ensure our customers can trust us to deliver their satellites safely and precisely to the orbit they need.”

The AS9100 certification was announced after PRI conducted audits at all Virgin Orbit sites, including the Company’s global headquarters and payload processing facilities located in Long Beach, California and at the Mojave Air and Space Port. The scope of the audit included a review of the Company’s design, development, production, testing, and launch of its LauncherOne orbital space launch system.

“Virgin Orbit has demonstrated its commitment to world class information security management by implementing and becoming certified to the AS9100 standards,” said Randy Daugharthy, Vice President of Business Development and Vice President of PRI Registrar and Transportation and Power Generation (TPG). “They have joined an elite number of organizations worldwide that have achieved certification to this globally recognized information security standard. PRI Registrar is proud to partner with Virgin Orbit in this accomplishment and looks forward to continued support of its objective of excellence.”

PRI wrote in its final report that the scope of the audit reviewed the following criteria: the presence of an effective internal audit program and the conduct of effective management reviews of the QMS (Quality Management System) and its performance; a verification of the organization’s headcount; an evaluation of the organization’s response to any adverse customer feedback information; the presence and effectiveness of the organization’s internal audit; and an assessment of the organization’s flow down of specific requirements mandated by standards and/or customers.