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On January 17, 2021, LauncherOne became the first Virgin Orbit vehicle to reach orbit, successfully deploying 10 [[CubeSat]]s into [[Low Earth Orbit]] for [[NASA]].<ref name="Davenport">{{cite news|author=Christian Davenport|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/17/richard-branson-virgin-orbit-launch-success/|title=Virgin Orbit rocket reaches Earth orbit, adding an entrant to the commercial space race|date=2021-01-17}}</ref> Launcher one was deployed from the wing of a retrofitted [[Boeing 747]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Watch this rocket launch from the wing of a jumbo jet - CNN Video|url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/01/18/virgin-orbit-rocket-launch-boeing-747-lc-orig.cnn|access-date=2021-01-19}}</ref>
On January 17, 2021, LauncherOne became the first Virgin Orbit vehicle to reach orbit, successfully deploying 10 [[CubeSat]]s into [[Low Earth Orbit]] for [[NASA]].<ref name="Davenport">{{cite news|author=Christian Davenport|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/17/richard-branson-virgin-orbit-launch-success/|title=Virgin Orbit rocket reaches Earth orbit, adding an entrant to the commercial space race|date=2021-01-17}}</ref> LauncherOne was deployed from the wing of a retrofitted [[Boeing 747]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Watch this rocket launch from the wing of a jumbo jet - CNN Video|url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/01/18/virgin-orbit-rocket-launch-boeing-747-lc-orig.cnn|access-date=2021-01-19}}</ref>


===Cosmic Girl===
===Cosmic Girl===

Revision as of 15:37, 21 January 2021

Virgin Orbit
Number of employees
390 (2017)
Websitevirginorbit.com

Virgin Orbit is a company within the

cubesats.[2]

The company was formed in 2017 to develop the air-launched

Cosmic Girl, which had previously been a project of Virgin Galactic.[3] Based in Long Beach, California, Virgin Orbit has more than 300 employees led by president Dan Hart, a former vice president of government satellite systems at Boeing.[4][5]

Virgin Orbit focuses on small satellite launch, which was one of three capabilities being focused on by Virgin Galactic. These capabilities are: human spaceflight operations, small satellite launch, and advanced aerospace design, manufacturing, and test.[6]

Virgin Orbit has postponed its next orbital launch effort for January 10th 2021. January 5th 2021, Virgin Orbit confirmed that its LauncherOne air-launch rocket’s second flight is now planned for January 10 between 1-5 p.m. Eastern. This rocket will be borne off the Southern California coast by a revamped Boeing 747 aircraft that will take off from the Space Port and Mojave Air.[7]

Vehicles

LauncherOne

Main article: LauncherOne

On January 17, 2021, LauncherOne became the first Virgin Orbit vehicle to reach orbit, successfully deploying 10

Low Earth Orbit for NASA.[2] LauncherOne was deployed from the wing of a retrofitted Boeing 747.[8]

Cosmic Girl

Main article:
Cosmic Girl (aircraft)

Cosmic Girl is the name of the modified Boeing 747 that Virgin Orbit uses to launch its rockets.[9]

VOX Space

VOX Space is a subsidiary of Virgin Orbit that was created in the early 2020s. The company plans to supply

US military, sometimes referred to as the "national security launch market."[10] The company intends to use the Virgin Orbit LauncherOne launch vehicle
.

In April 2020, VOX Space was awarded a US$35 million contract for three launches of 44

cubesats. The first launch is slated to occur no earlier than October 2021.[10][11]

Other projects

Ventilators

In response to the

University of California Irvine and the University of Texas at Austin—formed the Bridge Ventilator Consortium. They had a prototype awaiting approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in March, and hoped to begin production in April.[12][13][14]

Personnel

In October 2019, Virgin Orbit announced that Matthew Stannard was joining as a pilot on a three-year contract. Stannard had previously served in the

Cosmic Girl launch platform.[15]

References

  1. ^ Fernholz, Tim (June 13, 2017). "Virgin Orbit's newly-minted CEO will use psychology to launch satellites faster than anyone else". Quartz. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  2. ^ a b Christian Davenport (2021-01-17). "Virgin Orbit rocket reaches Earth orbit, adding an entrant to the commercial space race". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ Irene Klotz (2 March 2017). "Virgin Galactic Unveils Spin-Off Virgin Orbit for Small-Satellite Launches". Space.com.
  4. ^ Davenport, Christian (March 2, 2017). "Richard Branson starting a new venture dedicated to launching small satellites into space". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  5. ^ "Virgin Galactic Makes Satellite Launch Service New Company". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. March 2, 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  6. ^ "Welcome, Virgin Orbit!". Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  7. ^ "First launches for 2021 are set for Virgin Orbit, Rocket Lab". goodnewsgum.com. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  8. ^ Watch this rocket launch from the wing of a jumbo jet - CNN Video, retrieved 2021-01-19
  9. ^ "Branson's Virgin rocket takes satellites to orbit". BBC News. 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  10. ^ a b Erwin, Sandra (10 April 2019). "Virgin Orbit's VOX Space wins $35 million U.S. Space Force launch contract". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 April 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Kanayama, Lee (2020-04-10). "LauncherOne Cryo Captive Carry test on Cosmic Girl - wins smallsat missions". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2021-01-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Virgin Orbit designs new ventilator as part of Virgin Group's efforts to combat coronavirus," March, 2020, Space.com, retrieved April 2, 2020
  13. ^ "Coronavirus: Companies are helping meet shortages of ventilators, gowns, and more," March, 2020, Business Insider, retrieved April 2, 2020.
  14. ^ "Branson's Virgin Orbit to begin coronavirus ventilator mass production," March 30, 2020, NBC News, retrieved April 2, 2020.
  15. ^ Virgin Orbit selects RAF pilot as it plans satellite launch program, Ed Adamczyk, SpaceDaily, 2019-10-04

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virgin_Orbit&oldid=1001830874"