This Wednesday, Virgin Orbit, belonging to Richard Branson, carried out the first launch of the LaucherOne rocket in the Mohave desert, with the help of a Boeing 747-400 adapted exactly for this mission.
Together, a Boeing 747-400, registration number N744VG, which once belonged to a Virgin Group airline, and adapted exactly for that, also entered tests, to assess whether it is possible to launch small loads in flight.
During the flight, the aircraft made several orbits, to maintain a fixed point, and reached an altitude of 30000 feet, when the rocket separated from the jet. The video below shows exactly this moment.
Now THAT's what I call a drop test! Video from today's very successful drop test of our #LauncherOne small satellite launch vehicle. More photos and videos coming soon. pic.twitter.com/aOib4HYVPU
ADVERTISING - Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) 10 July 2019
The rocket is just a prototype shell, and filled with water and antifreeze to simulate the weight of the fuel. The flight lasted approximately one hour.
Dan Hart, chief executive of Virgin Orbit, told Reuters the test was a "crucial" event on the company's path to making launching orbital satellites "almost routine". “This test puts us in a pre-launch posture,” Hart said.
The rocket landed as planned in the Mojave Desert in the United States, while the plane, nicknamed Cosmic Girl, continued on its flight path, landing at a local airport.
Here's another view of today's takeoff. pic.twitter.com/kIwX46io1I
- Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) 10 July 2019
