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WE: A new show appeared in the sky blue sky over Southern California: a specially modified 747-400, carrying a 70-foot-long rocket under its wing, took off in the air as part of a flight Virgin Orbit LauncherOne Success Test. Sir Richard Branson's small satellite launch company performed a flawless test flight, proving that its two-stage carbon fiber rocket works seamlessly with Cosmic Girl, the former custom passenger aircraft that serves as a "flying launch pad". Test puts more air under the wings and fins of the company's plans to reach the orbit in early 2019.
The test, described by Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart, as "a perfect flight, a major step forward in our quest for a new small satellite launch capability," was held in Victorville, California – an installation near Virgin Orbit's factory test at Long Beach and one of its operational launch sites, the air and space port of Mojave. The flight lasted a total of 80 minutes during which the Virgin Orbit flight crew evaluated the take-off, landing, and behavior and performance of the integrated system.
"Vehicles have flown like a dream today," said Virgin Orbit's chief pilot, Kelly Latimer (Lt. Col., US Air Force, Ret.). "All members of the flight crew and all of our ground colleagues were extremely satisfied with the data from the instruments on board the aircraft, the pylon and the rocket. From my point of view in the cockpit, the vehicles have behaved incredibly well and correspond perfectly to what we were trained in the simulators. "
This successful flight marks the beginning of a new phase of Virgin Orbit's extensive test flight campaign. As part of this program, the company will perform several more flights of its 747-400, some with a LauncherOne rocket and others without. With tons of data already collected on the proper functioning of the system, future tests will focus on the robustness of the company's modified 747, the carbon fiber rocket itself, as well as the performance of the aircraft's avionics. tip and plane. computers on board the rocket. This part of the extensive testing program will end with a fall test, during which a rocket will be launched by Cosmic Girl – without igniting it – generating crucial data on Cosmic Girl's performance and the rocket when it will degrade in the atmosphere.
This flight is the latest in a series of major milestones for Sir Richard Branson's satellite launcher provider. The rocket was docked for the first time to the rocket at the end of October, and high speed taxi tests were conducted only a week before this test flight. Based on this steady progress, Virgin Orbit expects its first space shooting will be completed in early 2019. The launch supplier plans to make several trips into orbit in the coming year and has already started building, testing and integrating rockets for these subsequent missions at its manufacturing facility in Long Beach, California.
Dan Hart concluded the day by saying, "I am extremely proud of Kelly, his flight crew and all of our dedicated engineering and operating teams. Their professionalism really shone today, with our rocket and our plane in the sky during a beautiful day in California. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I know that our team and our customers were pleased to see us take this important step. "
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