Tag: Virgin Orbit
-
Virgin Orbit puts flying launch pad through speedy taxi test with a rocket in its pocket
Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl carrier airplane taxis down a runway at Victorville Airport in California with a LauncherOne rocket slung under one of its wings. (Virgin Orbit via Twitter) British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit space venture notched another milestone over the Veterans Day weekend: the first high-speed taxi test of its modified Boeing 747…
-
It’s a first: Virgin Orbit fits LauncherOne rocket under the wing of Cosmic Girl jet
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket undergoes fit checks underneath a 747 jet that’s been modified to serve as a carrier airplane. (Virgin Orbit Photo via Twitter) What do you get when you cross a Boeing 747 with a rocket launcher? You get something like what you see in the pictures that Virgin Orbit sent out today, showing…
-
Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch venture rolls out world’s biggest airplane for weekend tests
Stratolaunch’s giant airplane sits on the tarmac at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port. (Stratolaunch Photo) Stratolaunch, the launch venture created by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, took the world’s biggest airplane out of its hangar this weekend at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port and revved up its engines in preparation for the next step…
-
Virgin Galactic signs onto a deal to bring spaceflights to future spaceport in Italy
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, known as VSS Unity, is hooked onto its WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. (Virgin Galactic Photo) Virgin Galactic and a pair of Italian companies today signed a framework agreement aimed at bringing Virgin Galactic’s launch system to a future spaceport in the heel of…
-
Virgin Orbit gets set to start flight tests of its LauncherOne air-launch system
Virgin Orbit Vice President Stephen Eisele talks about his company’s air-launch system during the NewSpace conference in Renton, Wash. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) RENTON, Wash. — British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit venture is getting ready to put its LauncherOne rocket system through its first flight test in a little more than a week,…
-
Spaceflight launch services company adds Virgin Orbit and Cosmic Girl to its lineup
An artist’s conception shows Virgin Orbit’s “Cosmic Girl” 747 jet carrying a LauncherOne rocket in preparation for air launch. (Virgin Orbit Illustration) Seattle-based Spaceflight has a new product to offer customers who want to get small satellites up and running: Virgin Orbit’s air-launch system. Virgin Orbit’s system, which involves sending its two-stage LauncherOne rocket into…
-
Virgin Orbit readies LauncherOne rocket for maiden flight
Virgin Orbit is just months away from the first launch of its LauncherOne rocket. The company is currently undergoing an extensive test campaign to ensure that the vehicle will function correctly on its maiden flight. A drop test – part of the captive carry test campaign – is slated to begin by July 23. Virgin…
-
Virgin Orbit readies LauncherOne rocket for maiden flight
Virgin Orbit is just months away from the first launch of its LauncherOne rocket. The company is currently undergoing an extensive test campaign to ensure that the vehicle will function correctly on its maiden flight. A drop test – part of the captive carry test campaign – is slated to begin by July 23. Virgin…
-
Blastoff for 3-D printing: How Virgin Orbit harnesses high tech for low-cost rockets
Virgin Orbit’s Scott Macklin leads a tour of the company’s production facility in Long Beach, Calif. A full-size schematic of the LauncherOne rocket’s upper stage is painted on the floor. (GeekWire Photo / Chelsey Ballarte) LONG BEACH, Calif. — Virgin Orbit aims to blaze a trail on the final frontier, but in order to do that,…
-
Virgin Orbit sign SITAEL contract for LauncherOne satellite launch
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne has signed an agreement to launch a SITAEL satellite developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The all-electric propulsion microsat demonstrator called µHETsat will be air-launched on a rocket carried under the wing of Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl carrier plane. Virgin Orbit Launch: The…