With Successful Test Of Its Air-launched Rocket, Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Enters Space
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson's Virgin Orbit reached space for the first on Sunday with a successful test of its air-launched rocket and delivered ten NASA satellites to orbit. It achieved a key milestone after aborting the rocket's first test launch last year.
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson's Virgin Orbit reached space for the first on Sunday with a successful test of its air-launched rocket. It delivered ten NASA satellites to orbit. This milestone was achieved after the rocket's first test launch was aborted last year.
According to Reuters, the Long Beach, California-based company¡¯s LauncherOne rocket was dropped mid-air from the underside of a modified Boeing 747 nicknamed Cosmic Girl some 35,000 feet over the Pacific at 11:39 a.m. PT before lighting its NewtonThree engine to boost itself out of Earth¡¯s atmosphere, demonstrating its first successful trek to space.
Also read: Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Mass Produces Ventilators To Combat COVID-19
AFP
'According to telemetry, LauncherOne has reached orbit!' the company announced on Twitter during the test mission, dubbed Launch Demo 2.
'In both a literal and figurative sense, this is miles beyond how far we reached in our first Launch Demo.'
About two hours after its Cosmic Girl carrier craft took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in southern California, the rocket, a 70-foot launcher tailored for carrying small satellites to space. It successfully placed 10 tiny satellites in orbit for NASA, the company announced on Twitter.
Also read: Richard Branson Sells Company Stake To Save Employee Jobs, Showing True Leadership
According to telemetry, LauncherOne has reached orbit! Everyone on the team who is not in mission control right now is going absolutely bonkers. Even the folks on comms are trying really hard not to sound too excited.
¡ª Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) January 17, 2021
The rocket aimed to place 10 tiny satellites in orbit for NASA roughly two hours into the mission. Virgin Orbit had not confirmed whether they were deployed as planned.
The successful test and clean payload deployment was a needed double-win for Virgin Orbit, which last year failed its attempt to reach space when LauncherOne¡¯s main engine shut down prematurely moments after releasing from its carrier aircraft.
The shortened mission generated key test data for the company.
Sunday¡¯s test also places Virgin Orbit into an increasingly competitive commercial space race. It offers a unique ¡°air-launch¡± method of sending satellites to orbit alongside rivals such as Rocket Lab and Firefly Aerospace, which have designed small-launch systems to inject smaller satellites into orbit and meet growing demand.
Our favorite rocket is orbiting our favorite planet! No sweeter feeling. pic.twitter.com/bIPmUMW316
¡ª Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) January 18, 2021
Virgin executives say high-altitude launches allow satellites to be placed in their intended orbit more efficiently. It also minimises weather-related cancellations compared to more traditional rockets launched vertically from a ground pad.
