LauncherOne
Sign in to saveLauncherOne was a two-stage orbital launch vehicle developed and flown by Virgin Orbit that had operational flights from 2021 to 2023, after being in development from 2007 to 2020. It was an air-launched rocket, designed to carry smallsat payloads of up to into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), following air launch from a carrier aircraft at high altitude. The rocket was carried to the upper atmosphere on a modified Boeing 747-400, named Cosmic Girl, and released over ocean. Initial work on the program was done by Virgin Galactic, another Virgin Group subsidiary, before a separate entity — Virgin O
Key facts
- Rocket.name
- LauncherOne
- Rocket.image
- 125px
- Rocket.caption
- LauncherOne diagram
- Rocket.upright
- 1.0
- Rocket.manufacturer
- Virgin Orbit
- Rocket.country origin
- United States
- Rocket.pcost
- US$700 million
- Rocket.cpl
- US$12 million
- Rocket.height
- Approx.
- Rocket.mass
- Approx. 30 tons
- Rocket.stages
- 2
- Rocket.family
- Air launch to orbit
- Rocket.comparable
- Electron, Vector-H, Falcon 1, Pegasus
- Rocket.status
- Retired
- Rocket.launches
- 6
- Rocket.success
- 4
- Rocket.fail
- 2
- Rocket.first
- 25 May 2020
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
15 sectionsContents
- History
- Flights
- Design
- Engines
- 2015 redesign: new engines, larger payloads, new carrier aircraft
- Intended usage
- Launch sites
- Past launches
- Not materialized launches
- Launch statistics
- Launch outcomes
- Launch sites
- See also
- References
- External links
LauncherOne was a two-stage orbital launch vehicle developed and flown by Virgin Orbit that had operational flights from 2021 to 2023, after being in development from 2007 to 2020. It was an air-launched rocket, designed to carry smallsat payloads of up to into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), following air launch from a carrier aircraft at high altitude. The rocket was carried to the upper atmosphere on a modified Boeing 747-400, named Cosmic Girl, and released over ocean. Initial work on the program was done by Virgin Galactic, another Virgin Group subsidiary, before a separate entity — Virgin Orbit — was formed in 2017 to complete development and operate the launch service provider business separately from the passenger-carrying Virgin Galactic business.
The first successful flight was on 17 January 2021, which delivered a payload of 10 CubeSats to low Earth orbit (LEO). Three further launches successfully reached orbit. An initial test flight was unsuccessful on 25 May 2020, when the rocket failed to reach space. The final flight on 9 January 2023 also failed to reach orbit.