Virgin Orbit’s first satellite to launch in Europe – within 6 weeks

• Virgin Orbit to launch 8 satellites.
• The satellites belong to 7 different agencies.
• The launch will be a first European soil launch for Virgin Orbit

Several firsts to its name

Richard Branson revealed this Tuesday that Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. (VORB) will conduct its first satellite launch from European soil (Spaceport Cornwall). Spaceport Cornwall is the UK’s first vertical launch spaceport.

This launch has several firsts to its name: it is the United Kingdom’s first ever orbital-satellite launch and also the first for Europe; it is also Western Europe’s first commercial launch.

Virgin Orbit, founded in 2017, is a small satellite launch service. The carrier plane – Cosmic Girl – a modified Boeing 747 aircraft landed in Cornwall on October 11th. The aircraft will carry a LauncherOne rocket which will launch the satellites into Space. The rocket and the aircraft will be separated at 34,000 feet. LauncherOne is a two stage rocket which will separate in the upper atmosphere.

The launch is a joint mission between the US and UK governments. The agencies responsible for the launch are the UK Space Agency, the UK Space Command, Royal Air Force (RAF) and Spaceport Cornwall.

7 small satellites will be launched which includes military and commercial satellites. Oman will send its first orbital mission AMAN, which is an Earth observation satellite. IOD-3 AMBER (aka IOD-3) is “expected to be the first of more than 20 Amber satellites to provide space-based Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) data to users.”

Belgium headquartered engineering services company RHEA group will launch its first satellite DOVER which “is a SmallSat that was created as a pathfinder for resilient global navigation satellite systems.”

Start Me Up!

The mission name is ‘Start Me Up,’ a tribute to the yesteryear British band Rolling Stones which released a track by the same name in 1981.

CEO of Virgin Orbit, Dan Hart spoke highly of the launch:

“What an incredible honor it is for us to be part of something as monumental as bringing Britain into the business of launch. Working with our partners across the UK government, we’re starting up a new capability that will serve the people, the economy, and the security of the UK.” 

LauncherOne rocket under the wing of Cosmic Girl Source: Wired

Virgin Orbit is a dedicated small satellite launching service. Virgin launches satellites via the LauncherOne rocket which is made of American components. The typical satellite weight aboard carried LauncherOne is between 400-500 kilos.

“As we move ever closer to the first satellite launch from U.K. soil, it’s excellent to see the progress being made by Virgin Orbit, Spaceport Cornwall and those across government in delivering this historic mission, the first of its kind in Europe,” said Nusrat Ghani, UK’s minister for Science.

Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.

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