Virgin Orbit was an American launch services company within the Virgin Group, formed in 2017 as a spin-off of Virgin Galactic to develop and market the LauncherOne rocket, which had begun as a Virgin Galactic project. Based in Long Beach, California, it air-launched the two-stage LauncherOne from a modified Boeing 747-400 named Cosmic Girl, aiming to put small satellites into low Earth orbit. LauncherOne flew six times between 2020 and 2023, with four successes and two failures, the last a January 2023 failure on the first launch attempt from Spaceport Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The company went public through a SPAC merger in December 2021, paused operations in March 2023 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 4, 2023. Its assets were sold in May 2023: Rocket Lab took the Long Beach production facility, Launcher the Mojave test site and Stratolaunch the Cosmic Girl aircraft. In this atlas it is the make under which LauncherOne is classed.
Facts
Founded Year Virgin Orbit
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Source Space.com: Virgin Orbit: The Private Space Company That Aims to Launch Small Satellites
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Source Space.com: Virgin Orbit shuts down after selling key assets to 3 aerospace companiesLeadQuote, Lead
The piecemeal sale of the California-based company
Sources
1. Space.com: Virgin Orbit: The Private Space Company That Aims to Launch Small Satellites
Space.comOverview
The company was formed in 2017 as a spin-off from Virgin Group's other spacefaring venture Virgin Galactic
Part Of: Virgin Group, Overview, parent group
The company was formed in 2017 as a spin-off from Virgin Group's other spacefaring venture Virgin Galactic
View the Source 2. Space.com: Virgin Orbit shuts down after selling key assets to 3 aerospace companies
Space.comLead
said it has agreed to sell key assets worth over $35 million to three aerospace companies and will cease operations.
Part Of: Orbital Spaceflight, Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne
Cosmic Girl, a modified Boeing 747, hauled Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket to high altitudes and then dropped it, after which LauncherOne made its own way to orbit.
View the Source Virgin Orbit (Wikipedia)
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