Launching Satellites From 747 Planes

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit  Air Launch System

Source:  Virgin Orbit's  747 with rocket under its wing

Close to Commercial Launches - Aiming for Summer's End
Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson's second space company, expects to perform its first commercial satellite launch from a modified 747 aircraft by the end of this summer.  The company just successfully completed a test on the modified 747 over the Mojave Desert.  It dropped a fake rocket from tens of thousands of feet.  The 747 is named Cosmic Girl.  It carries the company's LaunchOne Rocket under its wing.

Cosmic Girl's Differentiator
There are a lot of key players in the commercial space launch industry including Elon Musk's Space X and Rocket Lab.  What differentiates Virgin Orbit is that it is an air launch, not a ground based, launch system like Space X and Rocket Lab.

Air Born Rocket Launches
Virgin Orbit fires off a rocket from the 747 to launch satellites, which the company says gives it more flexibility.  Virgin Orbit is a spinoff of Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company. Virgin Orbit has a dozen launches lined up to begin after it finalizes testing.  The company's goal is to be able to launch rockets from its 747's every 4 to 6 hours.  For a free Kindle borrow or sample read of my latest book "Big Space News 2019", go to amazon.com/author/ekane  ASIN: B07TYG31KM

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Navigation Display on Car Dashboard

E-Friendly Paddleboard Easy Eddy

Netting a Drone - US Army Countermeasure