Report: XCOR to lay off remaining employees Aerospace company hits another bump since its arrival in Midland in 2012

This undated image provided by XCOR shows the XCOR Lynx, a suborbital horizontal-takeoff, horizontal-landing, rocket-powered spaceplane under development by the California-based company XCOR. Space tourism companies are employing designs including winged vehicles, vertical rockets with capsules and high-altitude balloons. While developers envision ultimately taking people to orbiting habitats, the moon or beyond, the immediate future involves short flights into or near the lowest reaches of space without going into orbit. (XCOR via AP) less This undated image provided by XCOR shows the XCOR Lynx, a suborbital horizontal-takeoff, horizontal-landing, rocket-powered spaceplane under development by the California-based company XCOR. Space tourism ... more Photo: HONS Photo: HONS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Report: XCOR to lay off remaining employees 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Less than five years after taking part in a ceremony to announce the creation of XCOR’s new Commercial Space Research and Development Center headquarters in Midland, a report from the space industry blog parabolicarc.com indicates that XCOR has laid off its remaining employees in Midland and the aerospace community of Mojave, California.

“Due to adverse financial conditions XCOR had to terminate all employees as of 30 June 2017,” the company said in a statement as reported by parabolicarc.com on Wednesday. “XCOR management will retain critical employees on a contract basis to maintain the company’s intellectual property and is actively seeking other options that would allow it to resume full employment and activity.”

In 2012, XCOR and the Midland Development Corp. agreed to a $10 million economic development deal to create 100 jobs in Midland.

The news of the layoffs comes less than a month after then-President and CEO Jay Gibson announced he was leaving the company because he had been nominated deputy chief management officer for the Department of Defense.

Gibson said Wednesday that he left XCOR on June 27 and has not been involved with the company since his departure.

“We had our challenges and had everything committed and our runway ahead of us,” Gibson said.

XCOR hired Gibson in March 2015 to replace founder Jeff Greason.

In May 2016, according to the parabolicarc.com report, XCOR laid off about 25 employees — roughly half of its workforce — and suspended work on the Lynx. XCOR’s intent was to launch the Lynx from Midland International Air & Space Port, which received its FAA spaceport license in September 2014.

XCOR has since refocused its energies on its rocket engine work, according to the parabolicarc.com report. The company had been working on an upper stage for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan launch vehicle.

“It is a disappointment to learn about these layoffs that are being made by XCOR,” Brent Hilliard, chairman of the Midland Development Corp. board, said Wednesday. “The Midland Development Corp. has a meeting scheduled with XCOR at 1:30 p.m. (today) where these matters -- along with other potential concerns that may arise out of the decision to lay off its employees -- will be addressed.”

One matter likely to be addressed will be the economic development deal. In 2012, the city and XCOR agreed to a deal that moved XCOR’s corporate headquarters from California to Midland. The incentive package provided $2 million to the company for creating its headquarters in the Tall City, $3 million toward lease payments and capital improvements at an existing hangar and $5 million in performance incentives. The company, in turn, agreed to create an eventual payroll of $12 million in Midland and to invest at least $4 million in an existing hangar, according to a 2012 Reporter-Telegram article.