The Virgin Orbit of Richard Branson, with a rocket under the wing of a custom Boeing 747 aircraft, departs for a key test of its high launch system for satellites from Mojave, California, July 10, 2019.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Virgin Orbit, the rocket company founded by billionaire Richard Branson, successfully launched its first satellites into space using its new aerial launch system.
The company, headquartered in California, said ten mini-satellites were brought into space by the same rocket, which was launched from the wing of an old Boeing 747 jumbo jet while flying over the Pacific Ocean.
The plane, nicknamed Cosmic Girl, took off from Mojave Air and Space Port around 10:50 a.m. Sunday. Nearly 60 minutes later, it dropped the “LauncherOne” rocket about 50 km south of the California Channel Islands at an altitude of 35,000 feet.
After the release, the rocket engine ignited and LauncherOne accelerated into space. About two hours later, at an altitude of 500 km, he deployed ten satellite-sized satellites developed by universities and selected by NASA. The satellites will be used for space research purposes.
“A new gateway to space has just opened,” Virgin Hart CEO Dan Hart said in a statement. “LauncherOne’s successful track record today is a testament to this team’s talent, precision, drive and ingenuity.”
The successful launch comes after Virgin Orbit tried to launch a rocket in May last year. The company diagnosed the failure of a high-pressure fuel line in the engine, which caused the rocket to shut down shortly after launch.
“Virgin Orbit has achieved something that many people thought was impossible. It was so inspiring to see our specially crafted Virgin Atlantic 747, Cosmic Girl, launch the LauncherOne rocket into orbit,” Branson said in a statement.
“This magnificent flight is the culmination of many years of hard work and will also unleash a whole new generation of innovators on the runway to a runway.”
Virgin Orbit’s launch technique means that the company could theoretically launch firearms at short notice from almost anywhere on earth. It plans to launch, for example, rocket-carrying 747s from Cornwall, England.
Branson hopes to capitalize on the growing demand for small, relatively inexpensive satellites. He is not the only billionaire involved in the space race. Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Elon Musk of Tesla are also building spacecraft in an effort to capitalize on the fast-growing industry.
Virgin Orbit describes itself as a ‘dedicated launch service for commercial and government-built small satellites.’
The company said it plans to officially switch to commercial service for its next mission, adding that subsequent launches are already available from customers, including the US Air Force and the British Royal Air Force, as well as businesses such as Swarm Technologies, the Italian SITAEL, and Denmark’s GomSpace.
Virgin Orbit is an effect of Branson’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic. Virgin Orbit, a completely separate company, is privately owned by Branson’s multinational conglomerate Virgin Group.
Speculation has fluctuated widely over how much Virgin Orbit has invested to date, with estimates ranging from $ 400 million to $ 500 million and even more than $ 700 million.
In an interview with CNBC in October, Hart declined to comment on how much Virgin Orbit has spent so far, but said it had “discussions” about further investment, and the company wanted to seek about $ 150 million in new capital. .
Investors include Branson’s Virgin Group and Mubadala Investment Company – the United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund that also has a significant stake in Virgin Galactic.