Boeing 747 – Spaceflight Now

Virgin’s satellite launcher reaches orbit for first time

January 18, 2021 Stephen Clark

An air-launched rocket built by Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached orbit Sunday for the first time, delivering 10 experimental CubeSats for NASA and positioning the company for the start of commercial operations.

NASA takes a chance on Virgin Orbit with company’s second test launch

January 16, 2021 Stephen Clark

On its second launch attempt after a propulsion problem prevented its light-class air-dropped rocket from reaching space last year, Virgin Orbit will try to deliver 10 experimental CubeSats into orbit as soon as Sunday on a mission booked by NASA five years ago for $4.7 million.

Smallsat launch providers readying for first missions of 2021

January 10, 2021 Stephen Clark

Virgin Orbit and Rocket Lab teams are gearing up for their first missions of the year in the coming days, with Virgin’s air-launched rocket set for its second demonstration flight and Rocket Lab’s Electron booster poised to launch a small German-owned communications satellite.

Virgin Orbit traces cause of LauncherOne engine failure to propellant line

July 25, 2020 Stephen Clark

An engine failure that cut short the first test flight of Virgin Orbit’s air-dropped LauncherOne rocket in May was caused by a faulty propellant feed line, the company’s CEO said this week.

Virgin Orbit’s air-launched rocket fails on first test flight

May 25, 2020 Stephen Clark

Making its first flight, a privately-funded air-launched rocket developed and built by Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit failed to reach space Monday after release from the company’s modified 747 carrier airplane over the Pacific Ocean.

Virgin Orbit eager for data from first flight of air-launched rocket

May 24, 2020 Stephen Clark

Virgin Orbit is setting modest expectations ahead of the company’s first attempt to reach orbit with a liquid-fueled air-launched rocket, emphasizing a hunger for flight data on the test launch, which could occur as soon as Monday off the coast of Southern California.

Virgin Orbit schedules its first orbital test launch this weekend

May 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

The first orbital test flight of Virgin Orbit’s privately-developed air-launched rocket is scheduled as soon as Sunday off the coast of Southern California, the company said Wednesday.

Virgin Orbit’s first launch could happen later this month

May 4, 2020 Stephen Clark

Virgin Orbit could attempt its first orbital test launch later this month over the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles, capping a development program for an air-launched small satellite carrier that began in earnest eight years ago.

Virgin Orbit completes cryogenic captive carry test flight

April 13, 2020 Stephen Clark

Virgin Orbit completed a captive carry flight of its liquid-fueled air-launched rocket Sunday over the Pacific Ocean in what the company described as its final development test before the small satellite launcher’s first mission to space.

Drop test moves Virgin Orbit closer to first satellite launch

July 10, 2019 Stephen Clark

A full-scale model of Virgin Orbit’s air-dropped small satellite launcher, filled with water and antifreeze instead of rocket fuel, dropped from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 carrier jet Wednesday over a test range at Edwards Air Force Base in California, paving the way for the company’s first space mission later this year.