Mission Reports

Live coverage: Virgin’s small satellite launcher streaks into orbit

Virgin Orbit performed its first operational launch Wednesday, when the company’s Boeing 747 carrier aircraft released a liquid-fueled LauncherOne rocket over the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles to fire into orbit with seven CubeSats for the U.S. military, the Dutch military, and the Polish company SatRevolution. Release of the rocket occurred at approximately 10:47 a.m. EDT (7:47 a.m. PDT; 1447 GMT).