Virgin Orbit gets permission for first satellite launch with Boeing 747
Virgin Orbit has received approval from the US aviation authority, the Federal Aviation Administration, for the first launch of the LauncherOne rocket. It will be fired from a Boeing 747 and is intended to put satellites into orbit.
The FAA document granting Virgin Orbit the license states that Virgin Orbit has permission to take off from the Mojave Air and Space Port with the modified Boeing 747 Type 400, named Cosmic Girl, to launch the LauncherOne rocket. The payload for the launch is described in the document as a “mass simulator with cubesat”, but no further details are given. It’s not yet clear when the launch will take place, but Virgin Orbit has announced that it will… lasts a few more weeks before the aircraft with the LauncherOne enters the airspace.
This is probably not yet the final launch flight, but one of the last test flights. Virgin Orbit will launch another dagen in the coming days special carrying pylon under the wing of the Boeing 747 so that the missile hangs safely under the wing. Once that’s done, there’ll be a test flight with just Cosmic Girl and the pylon, without LauncherOne already attached. Then follows a new test flight with the LauncherOne under the wing, where the rocket is disengaged only for a free fall to Earth, collecting all kinds of data. After that, the way is open for the first flight where the rocket is actually launched to bring a cubesat into space.
LauncherOne is a two-stage rocket that will be launched from the Boeing 747 flying at an altitude of 10 km. Virgin Orbit wants to use the rocket to launch relatively small satellites of less than 500 kg into orbit. By launching the rocket from this height, instead of using a regular launch pad on the ground, the company will not suffer from adverse weather conditions and more flexibility for the launch schedule, as it will not have to compete with other launches. The launch will not be easy, as LauncherOne creates quite a bit of air resistance during flight and is quite heavy due to the internal fuel. In addition, the nose of the Boeing 747 must be positioned at a relatively extreme angle upwards, in order for the rocket to actually launch vertically.
Virgin Orbit was founded in early March 2017 as an independent part of the Virgin Group. It is a former division of Virgin Galactic, the part that wants to offer manned space flights to paying customers.