The Virgin Orbit 'Cosmic Girl' — a modified Boeing Co. 747-400 carrying a LauncherOne rocket under its wing — takes off from Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, Calif., on its second orbital launch demonstration on Jan. 17, 2021.Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached space on Sunday, eight months after the first demonstration flight of its air-launched rocket system failed, the company said.
The two-stage rocket carried a cluster of very small satellites known as CubeSats developed and built as part of a NASA educational program involving U.S. universities.The launch occurred after the Boeing 747-400 took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in the desert north of Los Angeles and flew out over the Pacific Ocean to a drop point beyond the Channel Islands.
The rocket’s upper stage was scheduled to coast for a period and then relight to circularize the orbit before deploying the satellites.Virgin Orbit, based in Long Beach, Calif., is part of a wave of companies targeting the launch market for increasingly capable small satellites, which may range in sizes comparable to a toaster on up to a home refrigerator.
Virgin Orbit touts the flexibility of its capability to begin its missions by using airports around the globe.Virgin Orbit attempted its first demonstration launch in May 2020.
All of his dedicated employees at Virgin Mobile must be working on the space program because the employees right now Virgin Mobile should all be fired for the horrible service we have experienced this past few months, being with them for 15 years now. Customer service is gone.