LauncherOne | Maiden Test Flight

Lift Off Time (Subject to change)	May 25, 2020 – 17:00 – 21:00 UTC | 10:00 – 14:00 PDT
Mission Name and what it is	Test Flight; an orbital test flight for the LauncherOne rocket.
Launch Provider (What rocket company is launching it?)	Virgin Orbit
Customer (Who’s paying for this?)	Virgin Orbit
Rocket	LauncherOne
Launch Location	Mojave Air and Space Port; air-launched from Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft
Payload mass	Mass Simulator; <= 500 kg  to SSO (<= 1100 pounds)
Where are the satellites going?	Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage?	No
Where will the first stage land?	It will not land but burn up in the atmosphere.
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings?	No, this is not a capability of Virgin Orbit (yet).
Are these fairings new?	Yes
This will be the:	Maiden flight of the LauncherOne rocket First-ever orbital flight for Virgin Orbit  First flight for Virgin Orbit in 2020
Where to watch	Virgin Orbit will be live tweeting the launch, follow along here! Virgin Orbit on Twitter A video will be available at a later time.

What is the LauncherOne Rocket?

LauncherOne will use the air-launch method similar to the one Northrop Grumman uses for their Pegasus rocket. Here, they haul it up to about 10,600 meters (35,000 feet) under the left wing of a Boeing 747-400 named Cosmic Girl. Now, the rocket weighs just around 22,600 kg (50,000 pounds) when fully fueled. This is a substantial weight to have on just one side of the plane. However, engineers have calculated just the correct amount of fuel to have on each wing to balance it out. In general, more fuel will be put in the right wing to make the plane more stable.

The Boeing 747-400 had all the passenger seating removed. However, they converted the upper first-class section into a mini-mission control center. Making these modifications saved about the same amount of weight as the rocket. 

An interesting fact, Boeing designed the 747 to carry an extra payload under its wing. Their idea was that it could carry an extra jet engine–similar to a spare tire in a car–and transport it. In the late 1960s, when they designed the airplane, it would be hard to find a cargo plane capable of carrying such a load. Luckily for Virgin Orbit, other companies proved this external heavy cargo transport. So, they used this data to determine how to fly with a huge, heavy rocket on one side of the plane.

What is LauncherOne’s Launch Sequence?

Now the next question is, what does the launch sequence look like? After Cosmic Girl reaches its 10,600 meters (35,000 feet) altitude, the pilots pitch the plane upwards at a 27-degree angle. Then, controllers give the launch command from the “first-class” Mission Control. This triggers a sequence that involves multiple steps for safety. The launch sequence ensures there is no accidental jettison prior to actual commanded launch.

The red clamps holding the rocket release it from the pylon. After four seconds of free-fall, it ignites the NewtonThree engine to increase its velocity to about 12,870 km/h (8,000 mph). After a few minutes, the first stage exhausts its kerosene (RP-1) and LOX propellants. The first stage then separates from the second and burns up in the atmosphere. 

Shortly after stage separation, the second stage’s NewtonFour Engine fires. It propels the payload the rest of the way to orbit with just the right mix of RP-1 and LOX. Sometimes, the second stage will perform two or three burns for a controlled deorbit or to increase performance. Once the rocket is above the atmosphere, the fairing halves will separate and burn up in the atmosphere.