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Virgin Orbit is set to launch seven satellites into space later today, when RAF pilot 'Stanny' unleashes the LauncherOne rocket from a Boeing 747.
Richard Branson's space firm will put small satellites into a 310-mile orbit, launching them from California's Mojave Air and Space Port beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET (21:00 GMT).
The aircraft will fly up to 35,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean for one hour, before deploying the Launcher One rocket and approximately 660 pounds of satellites contained within.
This launch was given the mission name, Above the Clouds, and will be one of the first to launch into this 45 degree orbit 310 miles from the US West Coast.
Includes US Department of Defense satellites that are experiments in space-based communications and space navigation.
RAF pilot Matthew Stannard, known as 'Stanny', who is more used to a Typhoon jet, will be at the controls of the customized Boeing 747 Cosmic Girl launcher.
Virgin Orbit is set to launch seven satellites into space later today, when RAF pilot 'Stanny' unleashes the LauncherOne rocket from a Boeing 747
RAF pilot Matthew Stannard, known as 'Stanny', more used to a Typhoon jet, will be at the controls of Cosmic Girl, the custom launcher for the Boeing 747
HOW VIRGIN ORBIT TAKES SATELLITES INTO SPACE
TAKE OFF Cosmic Girl, a converted Boeing 747, takes off from an air and space port, initially in California.
ROCKET DEPLOYMENTAt a cruising altitude of about 35,000 feet, the lead pilot presses the large red button that releases the rocket from the pylon.
FIRST STAGE BURN After a 4-second free fall, the first stage engine, NewtonThree, springs to life, accelerating the rocket to over 8,000 miles per hour. Once its fuel is used up, the first stage separates.
HAIR DETACHMENT With LauncherOne now between 310 and 745 miles above the Earth's surface, the fairing opens, exposing the payload as it approaches its destination.
SATELLITE DEPLOYMENT Finally, with very precise timing, the second stage ejects the satellite into its final orbit.
RETURN TO EARTH Atmospheric drag will eventually push the second stage toward Earth, where it will burn up in the atmosphere, minimizing the environmental footprint.
Virgin Orbit has already put 19 satellites in space using the Cosmic Girl system and Launcher-One, but the firm says this mission is different.
"We're going to an orbit that we don't think has ever been achieved from the West Coast," Tony Gingiss, Virgin Orbit's chief operating officer, told reporters.
“We are showing with this launch that we can get to inclinations and orbital geometries that probably, if you had asked us a year ago, we would have said, 'Well, maybe.'
At launch, the team will send the rocket in a 45-degree inclination to an orbital position of 310 miles, which they will accomplish by changing the drop point.
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"We decided to fly the plane further out over the Pacific so we could fly along the coast of South America without going through the land masses," Dan Hart, Virgin Orbit's president and CEO, told SpaceNews.
"Our ability to achieve a 45-degree bank from the West Coast significantly increases the utility of a West Coast launch."
Pilot 'Stanny' will pull the trigger on the 70-foot rocket once the plane reaches 35,000 feet. He is on a three-year secondment to the Royal Air Force, as part of a project designed to help the RAF understand the role of small satellite launches.
‘Stany has been a wonderful addition to our team. Unsurprisingly given his experience with the RAF, he brings a brilliant intellect, incredible attention to detail and an excellent experience base, in addition to his world-class piloting skills," Virgin's COO told the BBC. Orbit, Tony Gingiss. .
Her signing up is part of a broader investigation by the UK Ministry of Defense, which plans to one day use Virgin Orbit to launch military satellites from the UK.
This is the third launch for Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne, featuring one of the satellites made by Glasgow firm Spire Global. It will track weather conditions from orbit, as well as ship and aircraft movements, and was a last-minute addition to the payload.
Virgin Orbit says that being able to add additional satellites in a relatively short time frame (it was decided in December) is an example of its responsiveness and flexibility.
Another example is the fact that it's a horizontal takeoff system, which means you can take off from a runway and fly to your desired insertion point.
This is the first of six launches Virgin Orbit has planned for this year, with two launching from Spaceport Cornwall in the middle of the year.
The aircraft will fly up to 35,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean for one hour, before deploying the Launcher One rocket and approximately 660 pounds of satellites contained within.
This launch was given the mission name, Above the Clouds, and will be one of the first to launch into this 45 degree orbit 310 miles from the US West Coast.
These will be the first satellites and the first rocket to be launched from British soil, and are part of a larger push by the UK Space Agency to launch British rockets.
Future satellites could be sent into polar orbits from northern Scotland, including the Shetland Islands, where several companies, including Lockheed Martin and Skyrora, plan to operate in the coming years.
To launch six times in 2022, Virgin Orbit has to significantly increase turnaround time, with this mission six and a half months after the last one.
"We've basically cut it in half for almost every successive launch to date," Gingass said, adding that for this mission the rocket left the factory in Long Beach, California, at 04:00 and settled on the 747 in Mojave six hours later. .
The launch includes US Department of Defense satellites, which are experiments in space-based communications and space navigation.
"You'll certainly see improvements through 2022 in terms of time between rockets," Gingiss explained to SpaceNews.
"We continue to increase our efficiency in our factory as well, which will allow us to get rockets out more quickly."
In the future, Virgin Orbit plans to add more launch sites to its list, with Cornwall joining California in 2022 and Japan to be added to the list by 2023.
The firm is also in talks with Australia, Brazil, several European countries and the US Space Force to operate from Guam.
RACE FOR FIRST ROCKET LAUNCH FROM BRITISH SOIL
The first rocket to lift off from British soil is expected to launch in late 2022, although the location is currently unknown exact.
There's a race between the Scottish and Cornish spaceports to be the first British launch site crown.
Spaceport Cornwall is a horizontal launch site, with a traditional airport runway, which is expected to play host to Virgin Orbit.
The firm founded by Richard Branson works by sending Cosmic Girl, a converted Boeing 747-400 jet, up to 35,000 feet carrying the LauncherOne rocket.
When it reaches the target altitude, pilots deploy the rocket, which fires its engines and carries the payload, up to 300kg, into orbit.
According to a Telegraph report, the aim is to try to get the first rocket launch to leave Earth before the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June.
Other contenders for the title of Britain's first rocket launch include traditional vertical providers.
These include Lockheed Martin, Orbex and Skyrora, all of which operate out of Scotland, including Shetland.
OneWeb, the satellite communications company partly owned by the UK government, has been encouraged to make use of UK launch capacity in future.
Traditionally, they send their satellites, each weighing about 150kg, into orbit on an Arianespace Soyuz rocket from Russia in batches of 50.
The problem with this is that UK launch providers are looking to send small payloads, including nanosatellites.
They typically weigh less than 1000kg, which means only one or two OneWeb satellites can be launched on a UK rocket at a time, so they may only be useful for replacing individual satellites, rather than being part of the initial launch of more than 650 spacecraft.
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