Liftoff is scheduled to occur between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. EST today (Jan. 13).
Virgin Orbit employs an air-launch strategy: A modified Boeing 747 jet known as Cosmic Girl takes off from a runway and reaches an altitude of about 35,000 feet above a designated drop zone before releasing the company's 70-foot-long , two-stage LauncherOne rocket.
Rocket release will likely come about an hour after Cosmic Girl takes off today, Virgin Orbit representatives said in a prelaunch call with reporters on Tuesday . "Above the Clouds" will be the fourth mission for Virgin Orbit, which is part of English billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group of companies. The first, a May 2020 test flight that carried no satellites, failed when a fuel line ruptured in LauncherOne's first-stage engine.
The company aced its second test flight in January 2021, a mission that put 10 cubesats into orbit for NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites program. The third flight, a commercial mission thatFour of the spacecraft on the June flight were provided by the U.S. military's Space Test Program , and two were Stork Earth-observation satellites belonging to the Polish company SatRevolution.
Both of those organizations are repeat customers: Four STP payloads are flying on"Above the Clouds," and SatRevolution has two satellites aboard — a Stork spacecraft and SteamSat-2, which will test water-fueled thrusters developed by English company SteamJet Space Systems. The seventh satellite on today's flight is Spire Global's Adler-1, which will study the
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Powerful European Earth-observation satellite suffers anomaly in orbitSentinel-1b hasn't beamed any data home since Dec. 23.
Read more »
Earth’s orbit, testing in pregnancy — the week in infographicsNature highlights three key infographics from the week in science and research.
Read more »
Let's Build an Orbital Volcano Observatory!Satellites might be constantly watching the planet, but we don't have a dedicated orbital volcano observatory that could save countless lives and dollars.
Read more »
Powerful European Earth-observation satellite suffers anomaly in orbitSentinel-1b hasn't beamed any data home since Dec. 23.
Read more »
‘KIMI’ Trailer Reveals Steven Soderbergh's Sci-Fi Thriller Starring Zoë KravitzZoë Kravitz stars in the trailer for 'KIMI', Steven Soderbergh's latest collaboration with HBO Max.
Read more »
Royse City Police Officer Back On Job Following Near-Death Experience“Today when I got dressed, I was like it’s a different day,” said Officer Michael Baley, “I didn’t realize the weight of the badge until today.”
Read more »