LauncherOne - Virgin Galactic's satellite launching rocket

[tnt22]

http://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-plans-2018-first-launch/

Virgin Orbit plans 2018 first launch
by Jeff Foust — August 2, 2017


Cosmic Girl, the modified Boeing 747 that will be the launch platform for Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne, on display at Long Beach Airport in California. Virgin Orbit's manufacturing facility is located adjacent to the airport. Credit: Virgin Orbit

WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit, the spinoff of Virgin Galactic that is developing the LauncherOne small launch vehicle, is now planning a first flight of that rocket in the first half of 2018, the company said Aug. 1.

Virgin Orbit updated the timetable for LauncherOne in a statement announcing the arrival of the rocket's carrier aircraft, a converted Boeing 747, at Long Beach Airport in California, where Virgin Orbit has its manufacturing facility. The plane recently completed an extensive modification program to serve as the air-launch platform for LauncherOne.

Спойлер

When Virgin Galactic announced LauncherOne in July 2012 at the Farnborough International Airshow in England, it planned to use the same WhiteKnightTwo aircraft built for the company's SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane. The original intent was to minimize development by focusing on only the launch vehicle.

The company changed direction in December 2015 when it announced it was acquiring a 747 to serve as a dedicated aircraft for LauncherOne missions. The 747, previously in service as a Virgin Atlantic jetliner and known as "Cosmic Girl," underwent extensive inspections and modifications in Texas to serve as the launch platform for LauncherOne. Those modifications include the installation of a pylon between the left inboard jet engine and aircraft fuselage where LauncherOne will be mounted.

Those modifications are now complete, and Virgin Orbit, spun off from Virgin Galactic in March, said that the aircraft has now received an experimental airworthiness certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, allowing test flights to begin.

"Cosmic Girl, our first stage to orbit, is finally home," Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Dan Hart said in an Aug. 1 statement, a day after the aircraft flew to Long Beach. "Virgin Orbit is in the home stretch of integrating our LauncherOne rocket and ground systems for launch and to support our customers' missions."

"It has been amazing to watch Cosmic Girl transform from a commercial airliner to a flying launchpad," Tim Buzza, vice president of launch for Virgin Orbit, said in the same statement. "We are excited to begin our flight test program and continue towards our vision of launching anyone, anywhere, any time."

The flight test program, and initial launches, will take place from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Those launches, the company said in the statement, are now expected to begin in the first half of 2018.

Earlier this year, when Virgin Orbit spun out from Virgin Galactic, company officials still believed that an initial launch could take place by the end of 2017. In a presentation at the Small Payload Rideshare Symposium at the Applied Physics Laboratory in June, a NASA presentation listed a December 2017 launch for the LauncherOne mission under contract through the agency's Venture Class Launch Services program.

LauncherOne, in its current configuration, can place about 300 kilograms into a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. In a June 21 panel discussion on small satellites held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Richard Dalbello, vice president of business development and government affairs for Virgin Galactic, said the estimated price for a LauncherOne mission was "about $12 million."

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[PIN]

Живенький, всего 16 лет и "стукнут" лишь однажды, без деформаций силовой структуры.

[azeast]

https://life.ru/t/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0/1032436/rakiety_v_niebo_budiet_zapuskat_kosmichieskaia_dievushka

Компания Virgin Orbit готовится к началу испытаний Boeing 747, модифицированного для воздушного старта небольших космических ракет.

Компания Virgin Orbit, недавно созданная корпорацией Virgin Galactic, готовится протестировать модифицированный Boeing 747 "Космическая девушка". Он будет использоваться для доставки небольших ракет на высоту около 10 000 метров, откуда они будут стартовать на орбиту Земли, сообщает Popular Mechanics.
Для этого в течение последних 16 месяцев самолёт подвергался модификации. У него удалили всё лишнее внутри салона и дополнительно усилили левое крыло, где будет находиться крепление для ракеты. Специально для воздушного старта были разработаны ракеты LauncherOne, способные доставить на низкую околоземную орбиту около 1000 килограммов полезного груза.
Пилон, который будет удерживать ракеты, в настоящее время находится в процессе финальной сборки на производстве в Лонг-Бич, и Virgin планирует установить это крепление на крыло между фюзеляжем и ближним к фюзеляжу левым двигателем. В ближайшее время самолёт начнёт проходить лётные испытания и будет сертифицирован.
Лётные испытания будут проводиться в несколько этапов. Первая "космическая девушка" взлетит без крепления и ракеты, затем состоятся полёты с пилоном и макетом ракеты, затем макет будет наполнен водой — для итоговых испытаний. Точная дата завершения испытаний и первого старта пока не названа, но в компании уверены, что им удастся пройти все тесты за четыре месяца.

В итоге Virgin Orbit надеется добиться стоимости запуска около 10 миллионов долларов. Если это получится, компания станет первой в мире реализовавшей коммерческий воздушный старт.

[Димитър]

Специально для воздушного старта были разработаны ракеты LauncherOne, способные доставить на низкую околоземную орбиту около 1000 килограммов полезного груза.

Вообще-то говорили про 400 кг на НОО. 

В итоге Virgin Orbit надеется добиться стоимости запуска около 10 миллионов долларов.

Искренне желаю им успеха!

[Старый]

Димитър пишет:

Специально для воздушного старта были разработаны ракеты LauncherOne, способные доставить на низкую околоземную орбиту около 1000 килограммов полезного груза.

Вообще-то говорили про 400 кг на НОО.

В итоге Virgin Orbit надеется добиться стоимости запуска около 10 миллионов долларов.

Искренне желаю им успеха!

Кажется лавры Пегаса не дают комуто покоя.  
Ничего, почётное место рядом с ним на свалке истории зарезервировано для всех. 

[Старый]

А это всё Вирджин галактик? 
 Извиняюсь что интересуюсь: как там с суборбитальным туризмом, пассажирскими космопортами и торговлей билетами в космос? Клиенты идут косяком?

[tnt22]

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 16 мин. назад

Melissa Moreno, New Mexico St Univ: INCA cubesat for neutron flux studies slated for launch in "early 2018" on LauncherOne. #smallsat

[Boris Mekler]

Старый пишет:
А это всё Вирджин галактик?

Написано же - Virgin Orbit, the spinoff of Virgin Galactic - т.е. выделили орбитальные запуски в отдельную компанию, так как общего между галактическими космолётами и тусклой ракеткой не осталось ничего.

[tnt22]

Virgin Orbit выпустила LauncherOne Service Guide - 2472945 B, 40 стр, 2017-08-07 15:41:06 UTC

[Димитър]

tnt22 пишет:
Virgin Orbit выпустила LauncherOne Service Guide - 2472945 B, 40 стр, 2017-08-07 15:41:06 UTC

Ракета примерно соответствует Фалкон-1 по размерам и ПН

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 8 мин. назад

ARTICLE: Virgin Orbit sign SITAEL contract for LauncherOne satellite launch - https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/08/virgin-orbit-sitael-launch-contract/ ...

Спойлер

[свернуть]

Virgin Orbit sign SITAEL contract for LauncherOne satellite launch

[TAU]

торговлей билетами в космос? Клиенты идут косяком?

Идут, идут. Все в порядке.

[Старый]

TAU пишет: 
Идут, идут. 

Косяком?

[tnt22]

Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 3 ч. назад

Virgin Orbit's Dan Hart: Pathfinder for LauncherOne completed in last few weeks, shipping to Mojave for tanking tests. Test flight next yr.

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-still-expects-to-fly-twice-a-month-in-2020-despite-delayed-test-campaign/

Virgin Orbit still expects to fly twice a month in 2020 despite delayed test campaign
by Caleb Henry — September 12, 2017  
Employees of Virgin Orbit, the company spun off from Virgin Galactic to focus on LauncherOne, pose at the company's Long Beach, California, facility. Credit: Virgin Orbit. Credit: Virgin Orbit  
 
PARIS — Virgin Orbit says it will perform 24 missions with its LauncherOne small-satellite booster in 2020 despite pushing intitial test flights into 2018.
 
Dan Hart, CEO of Virgin Orbit. Credit: Virgin Orbit

Virgin Orbit, before being spun off from human spaceflight-focused Virgin Galactic in March, had set out to complete around three test flights of LauncherOne before ramping up for commercial operations.
Dan Hart, who was Virgin Orbit's president in March and promoted to CEO in June, took responsibility for the delay.
"I came in about six months ago to the team and I did make a few changes in our test program to add a little more hardware, and that did push out the flight tests, but we will get into flight tests in the early part of 2018; we'll get into production," he said Sept. 12 during a panel discussion at Euroconsult's World Satellite Business Week here. "That gives us plenty of ramp-up time to get to the 24-level in 2020."
Hart said Virgin Orbit's Long Beach, California, factory is designed to support that rapid launch cadence. The company has all the necessary equipment, he said, and is in the final stages of ramping up personnel to accommodate that volume of launchers.
As an air-launched rocket, LauncherOne can avoid many of the weather delays that confound ground-based launch campaigns.
"We'll get up into flight in the first part of 2018, and then we will be ramping up quickly. We are going into commercial operation next year, and then doubling our launch rate in 2019, and doubling again in 2020," he said, adding that the company "will have customers on flights number two and three."
Hart said Virgin Orbit completed the assembly of the first LauncherOne rocket a few weeks ago, which will be used for "tanking tests and stage firings" in Mojave, California.  
The Mojave Spaceport is the first location for LauncherOne missions, though Hart stressed the rocket's air-launch design from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 makes it launchable from numerous locations. That aircraft, known as Cosmic Girl, arrived in Mojave roughly six weeks ago, he said.
LauncherOne is a two-stage liquid oxygen/kerosene vehicle designed to carry up to 300 kilograms to a 500 kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. Virgin Orbit customers for LauncherOne include NASA, Sky and Space Global, and OneWeb

.

[Salo]

 Caleb Henry‏ @CHenry_SN
.@Virgin_Orbit talking 24 launches in 2020. Rapidly scaling launch rate.
 
  2:17 - 12 сент. 2017 г.

[tnt22]

Virgin Orbit‏Подлинная учетная запись @Virgin_Orbit 39 мин. назад

Our flying launch pad, the 747 'Cosmic Girl,' is already in our test flight campaign. Here's a quick peek of her up at @MojaveAirport – Virgin Orbit

Video

[triage]

Написано 14 сентября

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/14/virgin-orbit-announces-contract-to-launch-a-dozen-cloud-constellation-satellites.html

Virgin Orbit announces contract to launch a dozen Cloud Constellation satellites

[/li]
• Virgin Orbit signed a contract to launch a dozen Cloud Constellation satellites.
• The company's LauncherOne system is still in development, and plans to test the rocket in the first half of next year. rocket's first test flight
• "These missions wouldn't have been possible even a few short years ago," Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said.
  

Michael Sheetz   | @thesheetztweetz
Published 3:27 PM ET Thu, 14 Sept 2017  Updated 7:12 PM ET Thu, 14 Sept 2017

Air-launch rocket builder Virgin Orbit took another step in making low-cost rockets a reality in a new deal with satellite developer Cloud Constellation.

The Virgin Galactic spinoff, which is owned by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, on Tuesday signed an agreement to launch a dozen communications satellites for Cloud Constellation's SpaceBelt system. The rocket company expects to begin delivering on the contract with its LauncherOne system in 2019.

"These missions wouldn't have been possible even a few short years ago," Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said in a statement at the World Satellite Business Week event in Paris.

The low-Earth orbit constellation will be the backbone of SpaceBelt, to create a space-based data storage network. The individual units, considered small by the commercial space industry, each weigh around 400 kilograms or more than 800 pounds.

Source: Virgin Orbit
The two-stage expendable rocket and a fully-reusable air-launch platform of the LauncherOne service.

"The LauncherOne system was literally designed for companies and missions like ours," Cloud Constellation President Cliff Beek said.

Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne system is still in development. The company is planning the rocket's first test flight for early next year, with the system's Boeing 747-400 launcher in its final stages of flight testing. Virgin Orbit intends the two-stage LauncherOne system for use as both an expendable or reusable air-launched platform.

Branson's rocket company has also signed launch contracts with OneWeb, NASA, Sky and Space Global, and Sitael.

[tnt22]

Virgin Orbit - NewtonFour Hotfire with Gimbal (25 September 2017)

Virgin Orbit

Опубликовано: 3 окт. 2017 г.

LauncherOne is powered by two rocket engines—a single NewtonThree on the main stage and a single NewtonFour on the upper stage. Both engines are turbopump-fed, gas generator cycle, LOX/RP-1 engines developed in-house here at Virgin Orbit. In this test, the rocket engine gimbals--in other words, it pivots--over a large range of motion. In flight, gimbaling allows the rocket engine to change the direction of thrust--and thereby steer the rocket. We've added a diagram on the left hand side of the screen to show the orientation of the engine throughout the test.

(0:57)

[tnt22]

Virgin Orbit‏Подлинная учетная запись @Virgin_Orbit 13 ч. назад

Fun photo captured by 1 of our engineers last week: Our flying launch pad in the skies above 1 of our rocket engine test stands #LauncherOne