Virgin Orbit are hoping to revolutionize space launches with their LauncherOne vehicle
Virgin Orbit are hoping to revolutionize space launches with their LauncherOne vehicle
12th Mar 2020
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Virgin Orbit is a subsidiary of the private aerospace giant Virgin Galactic, a company with high ambitions in being an active participant in the space tourism industry. However, Virgin Orbit’s goal is a much simpler one — launching small satellites into orbits with ultralight vehicles.
LauncherOne
Virgin Orbit was founded in California in 2017. Dan Hart, the company executive, has previously worked with Boeing as Vice President of government satellite systems.
The company’s main development is the LauncherOne vehicle that is launched from the air. It takes off attached to the wing of a Boeing 747. The modified Boeing version is called Cosmic Girl, as in the song of the same name by British artist Jamiroquai.
Virgin Orbit Cosmic Girl & LauncherOne rocket.
LauncherOne technical
characteristics:
· construction:
two-stage;
· length: 16 meters;
· launch height: 10,700
meters;
· SSO payload up to 300
kg.
Originally, LauncherOne
was supposed to launch from the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) platform that is
considerably smaller than Cosmic Girl. However, as the rocket dimensions
increased, the company was forced to search for alternative solutions.
Cosmic Girl — Boeing
747-400 passenger airliner modified for vehicle launch from the air — offered them
the perfect solution. In 2015, it was acquired by Virgin Galactic, and in 2017
this plane became the property of Virgin Orbit. Cosmic Girl doubled the LauncherOne
payload capacity.
Launch plans
The company has not disclosed any information about its future launches yet. However, the CubeSat tab on NASA website mentions the launch of ten satellites during the second flight of LauncherOne.
The company’s official
Twitter account announced in late January that their vehicle was in the final
stages of testing preparation and they recently conducted successful taxi tests
of Cosmic Girl with LauncherOne onboard. Their first orbital launch should be
just around the corner.
In early February, Dan
Hart announced that LauncherOne would lift off within weeks. The vehicle will
carry additional equipment, and Virgin Orbit’s plane will take off from Mojave
aerospace port in California.
Richard is an established commentator with a strong political background and a career that has spanned across the energy sector (oil, gas & renewable energy) as well as the space industry (satellites, launch & telemetry).
He is a self-proclaimed environmental campaigner and is particularly enthusiastic about the role that the Scottish space industry will play in tackling the climate emergency that is happening around the world.
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