Virgin Galactic set to offer satellite launch services

The rocket will be launched from Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo, which is designed to carry SpaceShipTwo, a vehicle that will take paying customers on suborbital flights. To date, Virgin Galactic says it has accepted deposits for suborbital flights from 529 future astronauts.

Virgin Galactic revealed at the Farnborough Air Show that four private companies have already put down deposits as future LauncherOne customers.

According to a statement, several LauncherOne customers were recognised at the event, namely Skybox Imaging (Skybox), a Silicon Valley-based firm that has raised $91m for a high-resolution imaging constellation; GeoOptics, a US-based company developing a constellation of non-imaging remote sensing satellites; Spaceflight, an aggregator and integrator of small satellites; and Planetary Resources, a newly announced asteroid mining venture.

Tom Ingersoll, chief executive officer of Skybox, said: ‘Skybox’s objective is to provide world-class, affordable access to space imagery and information, and in order to do so, we need world-class, affordable access to space.