LauncherOne is a
two-stage orbital launch vehicle developed and flown by
Virgin Orbit that began operational flights in 2021, after being in development from 2007 to 2020. It is an
air-launched rocket, designed to carry
smallsat payloads of up to into
Sun-synchronous orbit
A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...
(SSO),
[ following air launch from a ]carrier aircraft
Carrier-based aircraft, sometimes known as carrier-capable aircraft or carrier-borne aircraft, are naval aircraft designed for operations from aircraft carriers. They must be able to launch in a short distance and be sturdy enough to withstand ...
at high altitude. The rocket is carried to the upper atmosphere on a modified Boeing 747-400
The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747.
The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...
, named '' Cosmic Girl'', and released over the Pacific 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 as a separate entity 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). Two additional launches also successfully made it to orbit. LauncherOne was the first all liquid-fuelled air-launched orbital rocket. A previous test flight was unsuccessful on 25 May 2020, when the rocket failed to reach space.
From 2007 to 2015, Virgin had intended LauncherOne to be a somewhat smaller vehicle with a payload to low Earth orbit. In 2015, Virgin modified the vehicle design to better target their intended market, and increased the vehicle payload capacity to launched to a Sun-synchronous orbit, suitable for CubeSats and small payloads. Virgin Orbit is targeting a launch price around US$12 million for the rocket.
History
Virgin Galactic began working on the LauncherOne concept in 2007, and the technical specifications were first described in some detail in late 2009. The LauncherOne configuration was proposed to be an expendable, two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket air-launched from a White Knight Two
The Scaled Composites Model 348 White Knight Two (WK2) is a quadjet cargo aircraft that is used to lift the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft to release altitude. It was developed by Scaled Composites from 2007 to 2010 as the first stage of Tier 1b, a two- ...
carrier aircraft. This would make it a similar configuration to that used by Orbital Sciences' Pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
, or a smaller version of the StratoLaunch
Stratolaunch LLC is an American aerospace company providing high-speed flight test services. It was originally formed in 2011 to develop a new air-launched space transportation system, with its corporate headquarters located in Seattle, Washi ...
air-launched rocket system.
By 2012, several commercial customers had signed early contracts for launches signaling demand-side support for new small commercial-oriented launch vehicles. These included GeoOptics, Skybox Imaging, Spaceflight Services, and Planetary Resources. Both Surrey Satellite Technology and Sierra Nevada Space Systems were at the time reported to be developing satellite buses "optimized to the design of LauncherOne". In October 2012, Virgin announced that LauncherOne would be designed so that it could place in Sun-synchronous orbit
A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...
(SSO). Virgin planned at the time to market the payload delivery to Sun-synchronous orbit for under US$10 million per mission,[ while the maximum payload for low Earth orbit (LEO) missions would be somewhat larger at .]
Under plans announced in 2012, the second stage was to be powered by NewtonOne, a thrust engine, and the first stage by a scaled-up version called NewtonTwo, with of thrust. Design and construction of the first engines was completed by 2014. NewtonOne was tested up to a full-duration burn of five minutes. NewtonTwo made several short-duration firings by early 2014. Ultimately, however, neither NewtonOne nor NewtonTwo would be used on LauncherOne.
In 2015, Virgin Galactic established a research, development, and manufacturing center for LauncherOne at the Long Beach Airport. The company reported in March 2015, that they were on schedule to begin test flights of LauncherOne with its NewtonThree engine by the end of 2016, but they did not achieve that objective.
On 25 June 2015, the company signed a contract with OneWeb Ltd. for 39 satellite launches for its satellite constellation with an option for an additional 100 launches, but in 2018 OneWeb canceled all but four, prompting a lawsuit from Virgin Orbit. OneWeb filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020.
News reports in September 2015 indicated that the heavier payload of was to be achieved by longer fuel tanks and use of the recently qualified NewtonThree engine, but this also meant that the Virgin-developed carrier aircraft White Knight Two
The Scaled Composites Model 348 White Knight Two (WK2) is a quadjet cargo aircraft that is used to lift the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft to release altitude. It was developed by Scaled Composites from 2007 to 2010 as the first stage of Tier 1b, a two- ...
would no longer be able to lift the rocket to launch altitude, so in December 2015, Virgin announced a change to the carrier plane for LauncherOne to carry the heavier payload. The carrier aircraft subsequently was changed to a used Boeing 747-400, ''Cosmic Girl'', previously operated by Virgin Galactic's sister company, Virgin Atlantic, and purchased outright by Virgin Group from Boeing upon the expiration of that airframe's lease. The 747 will allow a larger LauncherOne to carry the heavier payloads. The modification work on the company's 747 was expected to be completed in 2016, to be followed by orbital
Orbital may refer to:
Sciences Chemistry and physics
* Atomic orbital
* Molecular orbital
* Hybrid orbital Astronomy and space flight
* Orbit
** Earth orbit
Medicine and physiology
* Orbit (anatomy), also known as the ''orbital bone''
* Orbito ...
test launches of the rocket in 2017.
It was further announced in December 2015 that the revised LauncherOne would utilize the larger NewtonThree rocket engine on the booster stage, with the NewtonFour powering the second stage. NewtonThree was to be a -thrust engine, and began hot-fire testing by March 2015. The NewtonFour engine would power the second stage. NewtonThree generate of thrust while NewtonFour deliver to the second stage and is capable of multiple restarts.
On 2 March 2017, Virgin Galactic announced that its 200-member LauncherOne team was being spun off into a new company called Virgin Orbit. A subsidiary company of Virgin Orbit called Vox Space was created to carry out business which require strict security requirements. , the company planned to fly approximately twice a month by 2020.[
In September 2017, the first test flights of LauncherOne were delayed to 2018.] By June 2018, the Virgin Orbit captive carry flight testing campaign for LauncherOne, including a planned drop test of an unfueled rocket, was licensed to begin in July 2018, and could run for up to six months.
In the event, no LauncherOne test flights occurred in 2018 and were delayed further, to December 2019, with only the carrier aircraft beginning to fly in 2018. The first three test flights of ''Cosmic Girl'', including the pylon but not the rocket, happened on 23, 25 and 27 August 2018. A high-speed taxi test, with a rocket mounted beneath the aircraft, took place in early November 2018. The aircraft flew its first test flight with both pylon and rocket attached on 18 November 2018.
On 17 March 2022 Polish Space Agency and Virgin Orbit signed an agreement to use LauncherOne as means to send satelites into orbit, with its first launch from Poland planned for 2023.
Flights
The maiden flight of LauncherOne took place on 25 May 2020. The flight failed a few seconds after the ignition of the rocket due to a premature shutdown of the first stage engine, caused by a break in a propellant feed line, and the rocket did not reach space. The launch failure was attributed to a failure of a high-pressure liquid oxygen fuel line in the NewtonThree engine. Due to the failure, oxygen was no longer supplied to the engine and the flight was terminated. The issue with the fuel line was addressed by strengthening the broken components.
The second launch took place on 17 January 2021, and was the first to successfully reach orbit. The rocket deployed 10 CubeSats for NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites mission (ELaNa 20). ''Cosmic Girl'' took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
at 18:38 UTC. The aircraft launched the LauncherOne rocket at 19:39 UTC. The launch occurred at the altitude of .
On 17 January 2021, both NewtonThree and NewtonFour performed as expected. During launch, NewtonFour fired twice; once to inject the second stage and the payloads into a transfer orbit, and again to circularize the orbit.
Design
LauncherOne is a two-stage air-launched vehicle. The rocket has a diameter of for the first stage and for the second stage and payload fairing.[Virgin Orbit LauncherOne Data Sheet]
Space Launch Report
In October 2019, the company announced plans to develop a three-stage variant that would be capable of launching to the Moon, to Venus, or to Mars.[Virgin Orbit to add extra rocket stage to LauncherOne for interplanetary missions](_blank)
Caleb Henry, ''SpaceNews'' – 24 October 2019.
Engines
LauncherOne will be a two-stage air-launched vehicle using Newton engines, RP-1/ LOX liquid rocket engines. The second stage was to be powered by NewtonOne, a thrust engine. It was originally intended that the first stage will be powered by a scaled-up design of the same basic technology as NewtonOne, called NewtonTwo, with of thrust. Both engines have been designed, and first articles have been built. NewtonOne was tested up to a full-duration burn of five minutes. NewtonTwo made several short-duration firings by early 2014.
NewtonThree is a -thrust engine, and began hot-fire tests . More recent reports suggest that a NewtonThree will power the first stage of LauncherOne.[
]
2015 redesign: new engines, larger payloads, new carrier aircraft
News reports in September 2015 indicate that the higher payload is to be achieved by longer fuel tanks and the NewtonThree engine but this will mean that White Knight Two will no longer be able to lift it to launch altitude. The rocket will be carried to launch altitude by a Boeing 747. The revised LauncherOne will utilize both the Newton 3
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ...
and Newton 4
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ...
rocket engines.
In December 2015, Virgin announced a change to the carrier plane for LauncherOne, as well as a substantially-larger design point for the rocket itself. The carrier aircraft will now be a Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
, which will in turn allow a larger LauncherOne to carry heavier payloads than previously planned. The modification work on the particular Boeing 747 that Virgin has purchased is expected to be completed in 2016, to be followed by Orbital test launches of the rocket in 2017.
Intended usage
LauncherOne is designed to launch a payload to a Sun-synchronous orbit
A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...
(SSO), suitable for CubeSats and small payloads. Virgin Orbit has also announced the ability of LauncherOne to send payloads into heliocentric orbit
A heliocentric orbit (also called circumsolar orbit) is an orbit around the barycenter of the Solar System, which is usually located within or very near the surface of the Sun. All planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System, and the Sun i ...
for flybys of Mars, Venus or asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
s.
Launch sites
Virgin Orbit integrate payloads at their headquarters in Long Beach, California.
LauncherOne is launched from its ''Cosmic Girl'' Boeing 747-400 carrier, attached to a pylon on the aircraft's left wing, and released over the ocean at a location depending on the desired orbital inclination. This process avoids typical delays for ground launches due to weather and upper-level winds.[ ]William Pomerantz
William Pomerantz is Vice President of Special Projects at Virgin Orbit. He was part of the team that created Virgin Orbit while working at Virgin Galactic. He is the co-founder of the Brooke Owens Fellowship and a trustee of the United States Stud ...
of Virgin Orbit has stated that any airport that can support a Boeing 747 may be used, subject to local legislation.
, the carrier plane has always lifted off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, United States. The company also has plans to use other airports such as Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and Newquay Airport in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Other proposed launch sites include Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport in Hawaii, José Aponte de la Torre Airport in Puerto Rico, Oita Airport in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, Andersen Air Force Base
Andersen Air Force Base (Andersen AFB, AAFB) is a United States Air Force base located primarily within the village of Yigo in the United States territory of Guam. The host unit at Andersen AFB is the 36th Wing (36 WG), assigned to the Pacific ...
in Guam and Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the L ...
.
Past launches
Future launches
Launch statistics
Launch outcomes
Launch sites
See also
* NOTS-EV-1 Pilot
* Pegasus (rocket)
Pegasus is an air-launched launch vehicle developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) and now built and launched by Northrop Grumman. Capable of carrying small payloads of up to into low Earth orbit, Pegasus first flew in 1990 and remai ...
* StratoLaunch
Stratolaunch LLC is an American aerospace company providing high-speed flight test services. It was originally formed in 2011 to develop a new air-launched space transportation system, with its corporate headquarters located in Seattle, Washi ...
References
External links
*
*
Release and ignition of LauncherOne on its first orbital flight
video, 17 January 2021.
{{Virgin Galactic
Microsatellite launch vehicles
Space launch vehicles
Air launch to orbit
Scaled Composites White Knight Two
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Orbit
Rocket launches in 2020
Rocket launches in 2021