Tag Archives: Virgin Orbit

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.

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.

Jim Simpson, a board member at Virgin Orbit since May 2019, has been named chief strategy officer of the small satellite launch services provider. Virgin Orbit said Monday Simpson's space industry career will help the company stay focused on addressing customer requirements in the government and commercial launch sectors.

Virgin Orbit plans to conduct the second flight of its LauncherOne small rocket in late December as part of a mission to send NASA cube satellites to orbit, SpaceNews reported Friday.

Virgin Orbit aims to help NASA bring 11 small satellites to space later this year as part of the second launch demonstration of an air-launched rocket.

Virgin Orbit has demonstrated prelaunch and flight procedures for a rocket the company designed to help customers bring small satellites into orbit. LauncherOne's booster engine lighted on cue after the vehicle launched from a Cosmic Girl carrier aircraft during the initial demonstration off the California coast above the Pacific Ocean.

Virgin Orbit’s VOX Space business has received authorization to launch the company’s LauncherOne rocket from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam for orbital space missions.

Virgin Orbit’s VOX Space subsidiary has received a $35M contract under the U.S. Space Force’s Orbital Services Program-4 contract vehicle to launch three smallsat missions in support of a Department of Defense program.

Virgin Orbit has started to assess the potential schedule for the initial orbital flight test of the LauncherOne rocket amid the coronavirus outbreak, SpaceNews reported Thursday.

Susan Mashiko, a retired U.S. Air Force major general and former deputy director at the National Reconnaissance Office. has joined the board of directors of Virgin Orbit's VOX Space subsidiary.

Virgin Orbit and ImageSat International, an Israel-based firm, have partnered to globally deliver fast-paced services in support of Earth observation imagery, TechCrunch reported Wednesday.

Virgin Orbit plans to conduct an orbital flight test for its LauncherOne rocket early this year ahead of subsequent regular flights if the test is successful, Space News reported Tuesday.

An undisclosed space firm is slated to conduct two launch campaigns as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Launch Challenge aimed at delivering payloads to low-Earth orbit.

NASA collaborated with small-satellite launch services provider Virgin Orbit to produce a rocket combustion chamber using the additive manufacturing method.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected Vector Launch, Virgin Orbit subsidiary VOX Space and one unnamed company to compete for a program designed to give the U.S. military new technologies to launch small payloads into orbit.