Virgin Orbit is a company within the Virgin Group which provides launch services for small satellites. On January 17, 2021, their LauncherOne successfully reached orbit, and successfully deployed 10 cubesats.[2]
The company was formed in 2017 to develop the air-launched LauncherOne rocket, launched from Cosmic Girl; this tandem had previously been a project of Virgin Galactic.[3] Based in Long Beach, California, Virgin Orbit has more than 300 employees led by president Dan Hart, a former vice president of government satellite systems at Boeing.[4][5]
Virgin Orbit focuses on small satellite launch, which was one of three capabilities being focused on by Virgin Galactic. These capabilities are: human spaceflight operations, small satellite launch, and advanced aerospace design, manufacturing, and test.[
LauncherOne[edit]
On May 25, 2020, LauncherOne's first launch failed to reach orbit.[7]
On January 17, 2021, LauncherOne became the first Virgin Orbit vehicle to reach orbit, successfully deploying 10 CubeSats into Low Earth Orbit for NASA on its final demonstration mission.[2] LauncherOne was deployed from the left wing of a retrofitted Boeing 747, 10 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean.[8] The rocket was dedicated to the memory of Eve Branson, mother of Richard Branson, founder of Virgin, who died from Covid-19 on the 8th of January 2021.[9][10]
On June 30, 2021, LauncherOne successfully delivered its first commercial payload to space.[11]
Cosmic Girl[edit]
Cosmic Girl is the name of the modified Boeing 747 that Virgin Orbit uses to launch its rockets