Vector, a micro-launch company founded in 2016 to build small rockets for payloads of up to 60kg, may be in financial trouble, multiple industry sources told Ars on Friday.
However, she did confirm the company has parted ways with its chief executive: "Jim Cantrell is no longer with Vector effective today.
The company has been working on developing its Vector-R vehicle and trying to prepare it for a suborbital flight this summer.
In an interview in April, Cantrell told Ars that he hoped to fly an upgraded version, Vector-R B1003, on an orbital flight from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska before the end of this year.
Cantrell brought venture capital experience when he joined with veteran rocket scientist John Garvey in 2016 to found Vector.
The Garvey Spacecraft Corporation had been working on prototypes for a small launcher, and together Cantrell and Garvey decided to found the new company to bring the rocket through its development phase and commercialize it.