LauncherOne Archives

Virgin Orbit selected to launch 6 imaging satellites to low Earth orbit

Derek Wise - Apr 22nd 2021 6:05 am PT @derekiswise

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In a press release Wednesday, Virgin Orbit announced that they were selected by geospatial analytics company Hypersat, and QinetiQ, a defense and security company, to launch 6 hyperspectral satellites into low earth orbit.

Virgin Orbit successfully launches rocket to space from wing of a 747 plane in milestone mission

Seth Kurkowski - Jan 18th 2021 7:59 am PT @SethKurk

NASA Virgin Orbit LauncherOne Cosmic Girl

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Virgin Orbit attempted its second demonstration launch on Sunday after their first attempt failed shortly after the first stage ignition last year. This time around they didn’t just launch a mass simulator but actual payloads from NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites program ElaNa 20 which contained several CubeSats from universities across the nation.

Virgin Orbit forced to halt prep for next plane-based rocket launch test due to COVID-19

Zac Hall - Dec 14th 2020 10:01 am PT

Virgin Orbit is developing a launch system that can deploy small rockets from anywhere on the planet, but the spread of COVID-19 continues to affect the pace of progress.

Virgin Orbit plans to return to flight before end of this year

Seth Kurkowski - Nov 30th 2020 3:11 pm PT @SethKurk

Virgin Orbit LauncherOne

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After the first Demo Mission of its LauncherOne air launch system ended in the ocean rather than orbit, Virgin Orbit plans to launch Demo Mission 2 on December 19. This will be its second-ever launch attempt, and this time, it will be adding customer payloads to the top of the rocket.

Virgin Orbit Launch Demo 2 mission targeting late 2020, will carry 11 NASA CubeSats

Zac Hall - Aug 3rd 2020 11:40 am PT @apollozac

NASA Virgin Orbit LauncherOne Cosmic Girl

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Virgin Orbit will return to flight as soon as late 2020 with a second demonstration mission aimed at dropping a space-bound LauncherOne rocket from the wing of a 747 plane named Cosmic Girl. The second orbital flight test will include NASA payload this time with 11 small satellites onboard for deployment.