Virgin Orbit Mates Rocket, Plane Carrier For The First Time (Photos)

Virgin Orbit has set up its satellite launch system for the first time.

The California-based company – owned by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group – has mated a LauncherOne rocket with its 747 modified aircraft called Cosmic Girl at Long Beach Airport on Wednesday (October 24th).

"The team was doing rocket integration check with Cosmic Girl to check [that] Branson wrote in a blog article today (October 26). "It's an incredibly exciting moment for us, as Virgin Orbit's first test flights get closer and closer." [Gallery: Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne Rocket for Satellite Missions]

This flight test campaign will begin with "captive transport" missions, in which LauncherOne will remain attached to Cosmic Girl from take-off to landing. The next step will be drop tests, which will allow engineers to study the rocket launch mechanism and the LauncherOne flight in the Earth's atmosphere, say Virgin Orbit representatives.

Branson plans to go through these milestones fairly quickly. in today 's blog, he predicts that LauncherOne will reach "orbit" early next year ". (This orbital pioneer will not be the same rocket as Cosmic Girl this week, however; the latter's latest flight will be a fall test, Virgin Orbit representatives said.)

The LauncherOne, with a length of 70 feet (21 meters), can deliver satellites weighing up to 1,100 pounds. (500 kilograms) to a variety of low Earth orbits. Cosmic Girl will carry the booster at an altitude of about 35,000 feet (10,700 m), at which point LauncherOne will separate and head alone toward space.

This airlift strategy has the advantage of flexibility, said Branson.

Cosmic Girl "can travel thousands of miles in any direction with 24 hours notice to make delivery on the right orbit," wrote Branson in his blog. "Currently, people have to wait between 18 and 24 months for manufacturing and launching on the ground."

The rockets have already been launched in the air. The Pegasus rocket, developed by Orbital Sciences Corp. (now part of Northrop Grumman), has more than 40 flights under his belt. And there is more to come. Pegasus will be used by Stratolaunch Systems, the satellite loft company created in 2011 by the late Paul Allen.

Virgin Orbit's sister company, Virgin Galactic, will also be launched in the air. SpaceShipTwo, Virgin Galactic's six-passenger spacecraft, will propel itself into the suborbital space after being carried by a plane called WhiteKnightTwo.

Mike Wall's book on the quest for extraterrestrial life, "Out There," will be published on November 13 by Grand Central Publishing. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally posted on Space.com.