Important Innovations Collection

Satellite Launching Business                                                 Source:  Virgin Orbit Targets $1 Billion Valuation Richard Branson's satellite launching business Virgin Orbit hopes to raise $200 million in a round of funding.  That would place the valuation of the company at $1 Billion.  The money will be used to fund satellite launches and for capital expenditures.   The Wall Street Journal first reported Branson's target of $200 million in funding. 747 Jumbo Jet Approach Branson is using highly modified 747 jumbo jets to launch, from mid air, rockets carrying satellites and place them in orbit.  The target market is small satellites ranging from the size of a toaster to a household refrigerator.  The satellites are placed in low Earth orbit for highly sophisticated services ranging from commerci...

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 compa...