Virgin Orbit will buy two Boeing 747-400 airframes under an agreement with L3Harris Technologies to meet the increasing demand for satellite launches among U.S. national security customers and its allies. Melbourne, Florida-based L3Harris said Tuesday it will modify and deliver one of the aircraft in 2023 to serve as the second airborne launcher for Virgin […] More

Virgin Orbit will conduct an aircraft-ground equipment integration test as part of preparations to launch multiple government satellites for the U.S. Space Force. The company said Monday its national security arm will play a key role in providing orbital services for USSF’s STP-28A mission under the Department of Defense-run Space Test Program. Vox Space, which […] More

Candace Givens, a more than 20-year defense industry leader and spaceflight engineering executive, has joined Virgin Orbit as vice president of engineering. She will work closely with Kevin Sagis, chief engineer and senior vice president of technology at Virgin Orbit, as the company continues to scale up its space launch operations to meet the increasing demand […] More

Virgin Orbit has signed contracts to provide up to five launches for the satellites of Arqit Quantum and gain the license to use the U.K.-headquartered company’s quantum encryption platform-as-a-service. Starting in 2023, Virgin’s LauncherOne air-launched vehicle will deliver to space two Arqit satellites that would serve as a source of randomness for data centers powering […] More

BigBear.ai, an artificial intelligence and machine learning company, has entered into a commercial software agreement with Virgin Orbit to support and strengthen the launch services company’s capability with AI-powered, space-based data insights in support of the U.S. government, commercial clients and international defense. BigBear.ai said Friday it has already begun utilizing its Decision Dominance platform […] More

Mike Rokaw, vice president of operations at Virgin Orbit’s VOX Space subsidiary, said the parent company expects to submit bids for the U.S. Space Force’s future ‘tactically responsive launch’ contracts, which require launch providers to send satellites to orbit on short notice, SpaceNews reported Thursday. “We think we bring to the table a good economic […] More

Virgin Orbit and the Southwest Research Institute have partnered to look into combining the former’s LauncherOne rocket and the latter’s space mission development expertise to potentially pursue specialized mission opportunities. The partnership is exploring opportunities in joint SwRI platform manufacturing and services delivery to Virgin Orbit clients, and considering stewardship programs focused on the use […] More

Virgin Orbit has completed the Federal Aviation Administration’s final environmental assessment that found that licensing the company’s LauncherOne rocket operations from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam “would not significantly affect” the environment quality. According to the Aug. 27 notice, the proposed action from the agency is to provide Virgin Orbit with a launch operator’s […] More

Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket deployed four Department of Defense satellites into low-Earth orbit on Wednesday as part of a rideshare mission, C4ISRNET reported Thursday. The company’s carrier aircraft Cosmic Girl lifted off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California and released LauncherOne in midair to enable the rocket to deliver the cubesat payloads into […] More

Virgin Orbit announced on Thursday that its LauncherOne rocket is fully assembled and will soon be shipped to Mojave Air and Space Port in California for pre-launch operations. The rocket’s upcoming mission is called Tubular Bells, Part One, which will launch CubeSat satellites for the Department of Defense (DOD) and Royal Netherlands Air Force, as well as two optical satellites for SatRevolution. The launch is scheduled for June of this year. 

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Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket deployed 10 small satellites into the target orbit for NASA's Launch Services Program as part of its second launch demonstration. The company's carrier aircraft Cosmic Girl with the two-stage rocket lifted off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California on Sunday.

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Virgin's orbit business has moved the date of its LauncherOne rocket's second orbital launch to Jan. 10 due to pandemic-related limitations, Space News reported Tuesday. The company originally planned to conduct the liftoff in mid-December 2020 but experienced personnel shortage because of precautionary measures for COVID-19 contact tracing.

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