Virgin Orbit to demonstrate air-launch flexibility on upcoming missionby Jeff Foust — January 11, 2022 [SN]
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne is prepared for its next launch, now scheduled for Jan. 13. Credit: Virgin OrbitORLANDO, Fla. — Virgin Orbit is preparing to launch a set of smallsats as both a demonstration of the flexibility of its air-launch system and its ability to increase its cadence of launches.
Virgin Orbit’s next LauncherOne mission, called “Above the Clouds” by the company, is now scheduled for Jan. 13 after a one-day delay “to thoroughly validate the system and to check our sensor readings,” the company tweeted Jan. 11. The Boeing 747 aircraft used as the launch platform is scheduled to take off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California between 4 and 6:30 p.m. Eastern, with release of the rocket over the Pacific about one hour later.
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https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-to-demonstrate-air-launch-flexibility-on-upcoming-mission/Virgin Orbit launches seven cubesats on third operational missionby Jeff Foust — January 13, 2022 [SN]
On its third operational mission, Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne placed seven cubesats into a 500-kilometer orbit at an inclination of 45 degrees. Credit: Virgin OrbitORLANDO, Fla. — Virgin Orbit placed seven cubesats for three customers into orbit Jan. 13 on the third consecutive successful operational flight of its LauncherOne air-launch system.
Cosmic Girl, the Boeing 747 aircraft that serves as the launch platform for LauncherOne, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 4:39 p.m. Eastern. It released the rocket at approximately 5:52 p.m. Eastern, which then ascended to low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 500 kilometers. Virgin Orbit tweeted an hour after release that all seven satellites on the rocket had been deployed.
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https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-launches-seven-cubesats-on-third-operational-mission/Industry offers cautious optimism about state of space investmentby Jeff Foust — January 17, 2022 [SN]
Virgin Orbit executives celebrated going public with an "opening bell" ceremony at Nasdaq headquarters Jan. 7, but the company's stock has gone up and down since trading started in late December. Credit: Virgin OrbitORLANDO, Fla. — After a year that saw the rise and potential fall of one tool for space companies to raise money, executives and investors have varying degrees of optimism about the state of the industry heading into 2022.
The last year was marked by a series of deals involving special-purpose acquisition corporations, or SPACs, merging with space companies. These mergers allowed space companies to raised hundreds of millions of dollars and go public, and was part of a larger surge in SPAC deals across the market.
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https://spacenews.com/industry-offers-cautious-optimism-about-state-of-space-investment/Regulators uncertain on schedule for first U.K. launchby Jeff Foust — January 29, 2022
Spaceport Cornwall in England hopes to host launches by Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne in mid-2022, a schedule that depends on securing licenses from the British government for both the spaceport and the launch system. Credit: Spaceport CornwallWASHINGTON — Plans to host the first orbital launches from the United Kingdom this year are moving ahead despite uncertainty about when regulators will grant licenses for those launches.
Virgin Orbit intends to conduct two launches of its LauncherOne air-launch system this year in flights this summer from Cornwall Airport Newquay, also known as Spaceport Cornwall in southwestern England.
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https://spacenews.com/regulators-uncertain-on-schedule-for-first-u-k-launch/Poland, Virgin Orbit partner on Eastern Europe satellite launch initiativeby Jarosław Adamowski — March 18, 2022 [SN]
On its third operational mission, Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne placed seven cubesats into a 500-kilometer orbit at an inclination of 45 degrees. Credit: Virgin OrbitWARSAW, Poland — In a bid to secure a domestic launch capability, the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) signed a letter of intent with Virgin Orbit to use the U.S. company’s air-launched LauncherOne system as soon as next year.
POLSA and Virgin Orbit officials expect the project to advance space capabilities across the region. Numerous Eastern European nations are talking with Warsaw about participating in the initiative.
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https://spacenews.com/poland-virgin-orbit-partner-on-eastern-europe-launch-initiative/Virgin Orbit looks beyond satellite launch for growth opportunitiesby Jeff Foust — March 30, 2022 [SN]
Virgin Orbit conducted the first of up to six launches this year in January as the company investigates opportunities in missile defense and hypersonics. Credit: Virgin OrbitWASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle company Virgin Orbit says it sees opportunities not just in satellite launch but also in hypersonics as it looks to increase its revenue.
In its first financial results since going public in December after a merger with a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC), Virgin Orbit announced March 29 a net loss of $157.3 million for 2021 on $7.4 million in revenue. That compared to a net loss of $121.6 million on $3.8 million in revenue in 2020.
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https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-looks-beyond-satellite-launch-for-growth-opportunities/Space experiment to push standardization in small satellitesby Sandra Erwin — April 4, 2022 [SN]
Engineers assemble payloads on Slingshot 1, an experiment using modular and autonomous technologies. Credit: Aerospace CorpA 12U cubesat scheduled to launch on an upcoming Virgin Orbit mission will carry 19 payloadsCOLORADO SPRINGS – An experiment scheduled to launch this fall on Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket will try to show a faster and cheaper way to test technologies on orbit.
Called Slingshot 1, the small satellite built by Aerospace Corp. on a bus from Blue Canyon Technologies, is about the size of a toaster and will carry 19 different payloads to low Earth orbit.
https://spacenews.com/space-experiment-to-push-standardization-in-small-satellites/National Reconnaissance Office partners with U.K. on space mission to fly on Virgin Orbit rocketby Sandra Erwin — May 10, 2022 [SN]
Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne and Cosmic Girl platform prepare for a launch at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Credit: Virgin OrbitThe launch from Spaceport Cornwall will be the first commercial rocket to lift off from the U.K.WASHINGTON – The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office and the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense will launch a joint mission this summer on Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket, U.K. defense procurement minister Jeremy Quin announced May 10.
The launch from Spaceport Cornwall — located at Newquay Airport in Cornwall, England — will be the first commercial rocket to lift off from the U.K. and from Western Europe. Virgin Orbit will fly nine payloads to orbit using the LauncherOne small launch platform deployed from a modified Boeing 747 aircraft.
https://spacenews.com/national-reconnaissance-office-to-launch-mission-on-virgin-orbit-rocket-from-u-k-spaceport/Virgin Orbit projects growth despite widening lossby Jeff Foust — May 11, 2022 [SN]
Virgin Orbit, which has conducted just one launch so far this year, says it expects upcoming launches to generate more revenue and decrease its cash burn. Credit: Virgin OrbitWASHINGTON — Despite a widening loss in the first quarter, Virgin Orbit executives said they believe they have enough financial runway for their air launch business to gain altitude this year.
In its first quarter financial results released May 11, the company announced a net loss of $62.6 million and an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $49.6 million. The company reported revenue of only $2.1 million in the quarter.
https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-projects-growth-despite-widening-loss/Virgin Orbit expects first U.K. launch in Augustby Jeff Foust — May 25, 2022 [SN]
Virgin Orbit now expects to perform its first launch from Spaceport Cornwall in England in late August, a company executive said May 25. Credit: Virgin OrbitLONG BEACH, Calif. — Virgin Orbit expects to perform its first launch from England in late August, pending award of a British launch license, a company executive said May 25.
In a speech at Space Tech Expo here, Jim Simpson, chief strategy officer of Virgin Orbit, said the company was gearing up for that late August launch. It will come after a launch from Mojave Air and Space Port in California called “Straight Up” scheduled for no earlier than June 29 that will carry seven U.S. government payloads.
https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-expects-first-u-k-launch-in-august/Virgin Orbit ready for first night launchby Jeff Foust — June 28, 2022 [SN]
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system being prepared for an earlier launch. The upcoming “Straight Up” launch will be the first one for LauncherOne to take place at night. Credit: Virgin OrbitWASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit says it’s ready for a nighttime launch for the U.S. Space Force as it attempts to get into a more frequent rhythm of building and launching vehicles.
Virgin Orbit executives said at a June 28 briefing that their LauncherOne system was set for its fifth orbital launch attempt, a mission called “Straight Up” by the company. Its Boeing 747 aircraft that serves as a launch platform is scheduled to take off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 1 a.m. Eastern June 30.
https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-ready-for-first-night-launch/Virgin Orbit ready for first night launch on Space Force missionJune 29, 2022 Stephen Clark [SFN]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Virgin Orbit scrubbed the launch attempt Wednesday night to study out-of-limits propellant temperatures.
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket under the wing of the company’s Boeing 747 carrier aircraft. Credit: Virgin OrbitThe first nighttime flight of Virgin Orbit’s commercial air-launched rocket is on track for Wednesday night off the coast of California, carrying seven small payloads into orbit on a mission for the U.S. military’s Space Test Program.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/06/29/virgin-orbit-ready-for-first-night-launch-on-space-force-mission/Virgin Orbit launches Space Force missionby Jeff Foust — July 2, 2022 [SN]
Virgin Orbit’s “Cosmic Girl” Boeing 747 takes off from Mojave Air and Space Port July 2 on the “Straight Up” mission for the U.S. Space Force. Credit: Virgin OrbitWASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit successfully placed a set of payloads for the U.S. Space Force into orbit early July 2 in the company’s first nighttime launch.
Virgin Orbit’s Boeing 747 aircraft, Cosmic Girl, took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 1:49 a.m. Eastern. The aircraft flew to its drop zone over the Pacific Ocean west of San Diego, releasing the LauncherOne rocket at 2:53 a.m. Eastern. (...)
The launch, called “Straight Up” by Virgin Orbit, was performed under a contract with the U.S. Space Force, which designated the mission STP-S28A. The launch was previously scheduled for June 30 but scrubbed about a half-hour before the scheduled takeoff when propellant temperatures were out of acceptable bounds.
The mission carried seven payloads, primarily science and technology demonstrations, arranged by the Space Test Program:
Compact Total Irradiance Monitor (CTIM) is a 6U cubesat funded by NASA and developed by the University of Colorado Boulder. It will test the ability of a cubesat to measure total solar irradiance, the amount of solar radiation that reaches the Earth, with the same precision as larger spacecraft.
- GPX2 is a 3U cubesat developed by NASA to test the use of commercial components for differential GPS, precision navigation that could be used for future in-space operations. The satellite will deploy a two-meter gravity-gradient boom to passively stabilize itself once in orbit.
- Gunsmoke-L features a pair of 6U cubesats built by Dynetics for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. The service describes the satellites as “tactical space support vehicles” that will “aid in all phases of joint force operations.”
- The Modular Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance B (MISR-B) mission will use cubesats “to demonstrate various capabilities and mission effectiveness” for an unspecified agency.
- Nanosat Atmospheric Chemistry Hyperspectral Observation System (NACHOS) 2 is a 3U cubesat funded by NASA to detect trace gases like sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere. The NACHOS-1 cubesat, with the same instrument, deployed from a Cygnus cargo spacecraft June 28 after that spacecraft departed from the International Space Station.
- Recurve is a cubesat mission developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory. It will test adaptive radio-frequency technology in a mesh network.
- Slingshot 1 is a 12U cubesat built by The Aerospace Corporation using a bus from Blue Canyon Technologies. The spacecraft carries 19 technology demonstration payloads, including a modular plug-and-play interface.
The launch was the fifth orbital launch for Virgin Orbit overall, and the fourth consecutive successful one. All the previous LauncherOne missions took place in daylight, but this one took place at night, Virgin Orbit executives said in a prelaunch briefing, as practice for future missions whose orbits require such launches. (...)
https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-launches-space-force-mission/UK launches consultation on Virgin Orbit launchby Jason Rainbow — July 22, 2022 [SN]
Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne and Cosmic Girl platform prepare for a launch at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Credit: Virgin OrbitTAMPA, Fla. — The U.K. announced a public consultation July 22 to assess the environmental impact of the country’s first space launch, as part of the licensing process for clearing Virgin Orbit’s mission this year.
The U.K.’s space regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), is seeking comments on an environmental assessment from Virgin Orbit and Spaceport Cornwall, a government and industry consortium providing the mission’s intended launch site.
https://spacenews.com/uk-launches-consultation-on-virgin-orbit-launch/Virgin Orbit pauses operations amid financial troublesMarch 20, 2023 Stephen Clark [SFN]
Virgin Orbit’s carrier aircraft, a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet, takes off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California with a LauncherOne rocket under its left wing. Credit: Virgin OrbitVirgin Orbit announced last week it is pausing operations after sustained financial losses, furloughing most of the company’s approximately 750 employees as officials seek funding to keep the small satellite launch provider afloat.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/03/20/virgin-orbit-pauses-operations-amid-financial-troubles/