LauncherOne starts flight testing with Cosmic Girl

Sir Richard Branson’s small satellite launch company demonstrated that LauncherOne, a 70-foot long carbon-fibre two-stage rocket, can be mated with Cosmic Girl, a customised 747-400 former passenger aircraft that serves as the company’s “flying launch pad.”

The test, described by Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart as “a picture-perfect flight, and a major step forward in our quest to bring a new capability to small satellite launch,” took place in Victorville, California, a test facility close to Virgin Orbit’s Long Beach factory and Mojave Air and Space Port.

Virgin Orbit’s flight crew assessed the take-off, landing, and low-speed handling and performance of the integrated system during the 80-minute flight on November 18, 2018.

“The vehicles flew like a dream today,” said Virgin Orbit chief pilot Kelly Latimer (Lt. Col, US Air Force, Ret.). “Everyone on the flight crew and all of our colleagues on the ground were extremely happy with the data we saw from the instruments on-board the aircraft, in the pylon, and on the rocket itself. From my perspective in the cockpit, the vehicles handled incredibly well, and perfectly matched what we’ve trained for in the simulators.”