LauncherOne

launch vehicle from Virgin Orbit

LauncherOne is a two-stage orbital launch vehicle (see launch vehicle) developed and flown by Virgin Orbit. It was in development from 2007 to 2020. It is an air-launched rocket. It carries a smallsat payloads of up to 300 kg (660 lb) into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

LauncherOne diagram

The first successful flight was on 17 January 2021. LauncherOne was the first all liquid-fuelled air-launched orbital rocket.[1] A test flight was unsuccessful on 25 May 2020, when the rocket failed to reach space.[2]

References change

  1. Thomas Burghardt (2021-01-17). "LauncherOne reaches orbit on second attempt with NASA CubeSats". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. "Virgin Orbits air-launched rocket fails on first test flight". Spaceflight Now. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.