By 
December 4th, 2015
LauncherOne hauls satellites into orbit.
Credit: Virgin Galactic
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has introduced an addition to its fleet of vehicles as part of a technical update on its LauncherOne small satellite launch service.
A 747-400 commercial jet aircraft — previously operated by Virgin Atlantic under the nickname “Cosmic Girl” — will provide a dedicated launch platform for the LauncherOne orbital vehicle.
Virgin Galactic pilot, Kelly Latimer, explains use of a 747-400 commercial jet aircraft — previously operated by Virgin Atlantic under the nickname “Cosmic Girl” — to provide a dedicated launch platform for the LauncherOne orbital vehicle.
Credit: Virgin Galactic
Cosmic Girl went into service in 2001 and will spend her new life as an aerial platform for LauncherOne.
The acquisition of a 747-400 carrier to be the “dedicated air launch” vehicle for LauncherOne is intended to free up WhiteKnightTwo for Virgin Galactic’s human space flight program. That suborbital launch system for paying passengers makes use of the WhiteKnightTwo carrier craft and the SpaceShipTwo rocketship.
Commercial suborbital spaceflight services for ticket holders are to be carried out of Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Rapid service
“Air launch enables us to provide rapid, responsive service to our satellite customers on a schedule set by their business and operational needs, rather than the constraints of national launch ranges,” said George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic CEO in a press statement.
“Selecting the 747 airframe provides a dedicated platform that gives us the capacity to substantially increase our payload to orbit without increasing our prices,” Whitesides added.
Wing modification
The LauncherOne rocket will be mounted to the carrier aircraft under the left wing, adjacent to the position that has been used by other 747s to ferry a fifth engine.
Initial inspections and tests of Cosmic Girl have already been completed and, prior to the start of the wing modification.
A regularly scheduled maintenance check will be conducted by VT San Antonio Aerospace – a maintenance, repair and operations organization.
Sir Richard Branson and Kelly Latimer, a pilot for Virgin Galactic.
Launch prices
In September, Virgin Galactic announced it had doubled LauncherOne’s performance to 440 pounds (200 kilograms) into the standard Sun-Synchronous Orbit for a price below $10 million, with the option to purchase further increases in performance to the same orbit and for launches that reach other altitudes or inclinations.
The launch system is capable of launching over 880 pounds (400 kilograms) of payload to other orbits.
Initial inspections
The LauncherOne rocket will be mounted to the carrier aircraft under the left wing, adjacent to the position that has been used by other 747s to ferry a fifth engine.
Initial inspections and tests of Cosmic Girl have already been completed and, prior to the start of the wing modification, a regularly scheduled maintenance check will be conducted by VT San Antonio Aerospace. A maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) organization, VT San Antonio Aerospace has over the years re-delivered more than 3,000 aircraft.
Game-changing customers
According to Virgin Galactic President, Steve Isakowitz: “Our LauncherOne team moved into a 150,000 square foot facility for design and manufacturing, grew to more than 150 dedicated staff, completed multiple long-duration hot fires of our liquid rocket engines, doubled the L1[LauncherOne] payload capacity, and welcomed two game-changing customers from both new space and government, OneWeb and NASA.”
For more information, visit this special video on LauncherOne’s new mothership:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2OT8Fvo1zw&feature=youtu.be
New Update:
https://youtu.be/bLUXO_YdTDc
Posted in Space News
