/themes/custom/particle/dist/app-drupal/assets/awn-logo.svg
Skip to main content
  • Market Sector
    • Aerospace
    • Air Transport
    • MRO
    • Defense and Space
    • Business Aviation
  • Markets
    • Aerospace
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Connected Aerospace
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Manufacturing & Supply Chain
      • Unmanned & Urban Aviation
      • Commercial Space
      • Program Management
    • Air Transport
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Airports & Routes
      • Airlines & Lessors
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Maintenance & Training
    • MRO
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Supply Chain
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Workforce & Training
    • Defense and Space
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Sensors & Electronic Warfare
      • Missile Defense & Weapons
      • Supply Chain
      • Budget, Policy & Operations
      • Space
    • Business Aviation
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Airports, FBOs & Suppliers
      • Flight Deck
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Maintenance & Training
  • Marketplace
  • Services
    • Services
      • Advertising
      • Marketing Services
      • Fleet, Data & APIs
      • Research & Consulting
      • Network and Route Planning
      • Marketplace
  • Store
    • Market Sector

      • Aerospace
      • Air Transport
      • MRO
      • Defense and Space
      • Business Aviation
    • Type View All Products
      • Intelligence Bundles
        • AWIN - Premium
        • AWIN - Aerospace and Defense
        • AWIN - Business Aviation
        • AWIN - Commercial Aviation
      • Market Briefings
        • Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
        • Aviation Daily
        • SpeedNews
        • The Weekly of Business Aviation
      • Directories
        • Air Charter Guide
        • Aviation Week Marketplace
        • Route Exchange
        • The Engine Yearbook
      • Data Services
        • AC-U-KWIK
        • Aircraft Bluebook
        • Airportdata.com
        • Airport Strategy and Marketing (ASM)
        • CAPA – Centre for Aviation
        • Fleet Discovery Civil
        • Fleet Discovery Military
        • Fleet & MRO Forecast
        • MRO Prospector
      • Publications
        • Air Transport World
        • Aviation Week & Space Technology
        • Aviation Week & Space Technology - Inside MRO
        • Business & Commercial Aviation
        • CAPA - Airline Leader
        • Routes magazine
        • ShowNews
      • Resources
        • Downloadable Reports
  • Events
    • Events View All Events
      • MRO
        • MRO Americas
        • MRO Asia
        • MRO Baltics, Eastern Europe and Russia (BEER)
        • MRO Europe
        • MRO Latin America
        • MRO Middle East
        • MRO Transatlantic
        • Military Aviation Logistics and Maintenance Symposium (MALMS)
      • Commercial Aviation
        • Aero-Engines Americas
        • Aero-Engines Asia
        • Aero-Engines Europe
        • Commercial Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference (ASC)
        • Commercial Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference - Europe (ACE)
        • Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance
      • Aerospace and Defense
        • A&D Mergers and Acquisitions Conference (ADMA)
        • Aerospace Manufacturing Conference (AMC)
        • Aerospace Raw Materials & Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference (RMC)
        • DefenseChain Conference (DCPE)
      • Air Transport
        • CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation Summit
        • CAPA Latin America Aviation & LCCs Summit
        • CAPA Live
        • Routes Americas 2021
        • Routes Asia 2021
        • Routes Europe 2021
        • Routes Reconnected
        • TakeOff North America 2020
        • World Aviation Outlook Summit 2020
        • World Routes 2021
      • Business Aviation
        • Business Aviation Week 2020
        • Business & General Aviation Conference (BGA)
      • Awards
        • 20 Twenties
        • Aviation Week Laureates Awards
        • Program Excellence Awards and Banquet
    • Webinars
      • Upcoming Webinars
  • About
    • About Aviation Week Network
      • Our Story
      • Content and Data Team
      • Aviation Week & Space Technology 100-Year
    • Contact Us
      • Subscriber Services
      • Advertising, Marketing Services & List Rentals
      • Content Sales
      • Events
      • PR & Communications
      • Content Licensing and Reprints
      • FAQ
  • Log In
  • Register
  • My Account
    • Profile
    • Sign Out
  • AWIN Access
  • My cart
  1. Back to Commercial Space

Share

‘Picture ‘Perfect’: Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne Reaches Orbit

Guy Norris
virgin orbit launcherone and cosmic girl carrier aircraft
Greg Robinson/Virgin Orbit

The Launch Demo 2 mission, which followed a failed first attempt to reach orbit in May 2020, was described by the company as “picture-perfect” and paves the way for the start of full operational launch services with the horizontally launched rocket later this year.

Cosmic Girl virgin orbit carrier aircraft
David Massena/Virgin Orbit

Cosmic Girl, Virgin Orbit’s modified Boeing 747-400 carrier aircraft, departs from Mojave Air & Space Port in California for the short flight to the drop zone. The aircraft carried extra fuel in the right wing tanks to help offset the lateral load of the 57,000-lb. LauncherOne attached under the left wing.

launch engineers on virgin orbit cosmic girl carrier aircraft
Greg Robinson/Virgin Orbit

The flight crew included launch engineers who monitored LauncherOne vehicle data from positions on the upper deck, formerly a first-class cabin area when the aircraft was in passenger service with Virgin Atlantic.

virgin orbit launch demo 2 flight map
Virgin Orbit

Like the initial launch attempt in May 2020, the Launch Demo 2 mission was conducted in the U.S. Navy-controlled Point Mugu Sea Range with the launch point to the west of San Nicolas Island. Located 61 mi. from the nearest point of the California coast, the island is controlled by the Navy and in World War II was short-listed as a potential site for testing the first atom bomb.

virgin orbit cosmic girl carrier aircraft releasing launcherone
Greg Robinson/Virgin Orbit

“Release, release, release!” Virgin Orbit Chief Test Pilot Kelly Latimer and co-pilot Todd Ericson accelerated the 747 to Mach 0.85 before executing a 2g pull-up and climb. With the aircraft pitch attitude at 32.5 deg. and flightpath angle at 29 deg., the rocket was released at 35,000 ft. and Mach 0.67.

virgin orbit cosmic girl carrier aircraft banking away from launcherone
Virgin Orbit

As LauncherOne speeds toward space, the 747 rolls away to the southwest. “We aimed for a bank angle of around 45 deg. and no more than 60 deg.,” says Latimer. She adds that the aircraft’s speed reduced to just 180 KIAS at the top of the climb before the nose was lowered for the return flight to Mojave.

virgin orbit launcherone fairing separation
Virgin Orbit

Following main-engine cutoff and successful stage separation at 3 min. 2 sec. into the rocket flight, the smaller NewtonFour upper stage ignited to continue accelerating the payload into a polar orbit at around 17,500 mph. Fairing separation occurred 25 sec. after ignition of the 5,000-lb.-thrust engine, which ran for its allotted initial run of just under 6 min.

virgin orbit LauncherOne prepares to deliver payload from CubeSat dispensers
Virgin Orbit

High above the Earth, LauncherOne prepares to deliver its payload from raft-like cubesat dispensers. The dispensers are supported on a payload adaptor (projecting from the left of the rocket’s second stage with broad slat-like surfaces), which is mounted on a conical adapter fitting—the gray section curving around the body of the launcher.

Previous
Next

Virgin Orbit successfully deployed 10 cubesats into a 310-km-high (193-mi.) polar orbit on Jan. 17, marking the first successful spaceflight of its air-launched, liquid-fueled LauncherOne vehicle. 

Guy Norris

Guy is a Senior Editor for Aviation Week, based in Los Angeles. Before joining Aviation Week in 2007, Guy was with Flight International, first as technical editor based in the U.K. and most recently as U.S. West Coast editor. Before joining Flight, he was London correspondent for Interavia, part of Jane's Information Group.

Aviation Week Intelligence Network
Monitor the market and connect your business to the people, programs and proprietary data driving the Aerospace & Defense market - only available with AWIN.

ASD_AWIN_thumbnail_270

Stay Connected.
Stay Informed
Grow Your Business.

Learn How

Follow us on

Markets

  • Aerospace
  • Air Transport
  • MRO
  • Defense and Space
  • Business Aviation

Products

  • AWIN Intelligence Bundles
  • Market Briefings
  • Publications
  • Data Services
  • Directories
  • Resources

Contact Us

  • Subscriber Services
  • Advertising, Marketing Services & List Rentals
  • Content Sales
  • Events
  • PR & Communications
  • Content Licensing and Reprints
  • FAQ

Other Resources

  • Aviation Week Marketplace
  • Knowledge Center
  • Newsletters
  • ShowNews
Copyright © 2021. All rights reserved. Informa Markets, a trading division of Informa PLC.
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use