Dislodged filter identified as ‘anomaly’ that thwarted LauncherOne mission

This is one conclusion from the ongoing investigation into why Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne failed to deliver its payload into the mission’s target orbit.

Codenamed ‘Start Me Up’, the first UK mission for Virgin Orbit on January 9, 2023 followed four completed missions on the west coast of the US that delivered 33 payloads to their required orbits. The launch system consisted of a modified Boeing 747-400 fitted with the LauncherOne rocket under its port wing.

The investigation has confirmed that the Virgin Orbit team successfully executed pre-flight preparations, carrier aircraft take-off, captive carry flight, and rocket release. Virgin Orbit added that ignition, first stage flight, stage separation, second stage ignition, and fairing deployment of the LauncherOne rocket were nominal.

Led by space launch veteran Jim Sponnick and Virgin Orbit chief engineer Chad Foerster, the failure investigation team received immediate access to extensive telemetry data collected during the mission from the ground stations in the UK, Ireland, and Spain, as well as systems onboard its carrier aircraft.