Virgin Orbit Sends Its First Commercial Satellites Into Space From Air-Launched Rocket (techcrunch.com) 23
Earlier today at around 11:45 AM EDT, Virgin Orbit successfully launched its first commercial satellites from their LauncherOne rocket, which blasted off from beneath the wing of a Boeing 747. TechCrunch reports: On board, Virgin Orbit carried seven payloads, including the first-ever defense satellite for the Netherlands, as well as cubsats developed by the U.S. Department of Defense for its Rapid Agile Launch initiative. The initiative is seeking to test the viability of flying small spacecraft to space on relatively short notice on launch platforms with increased flexibility, which Virgin Orbit's provides thanks to its ability to take off horizontally from more or less conventional runways. Virgin Orbit also carried two Earth observation satellites for Polish startup SatRevolution, and it will be delivering more in future flights to help build out that company's planned 14-spacecraft constellation.
In January, Virgin Orbit completed its final demonstration mission, reaching orbit for the first time with LauncherOne. That paved the way for this mission, and the company plans to increase the pace and frequency of its commercial missions, with at least one more planned tentatively for later this year and many more in 2022. In terms of payload capacity, Virgin Orbit's Launcher One can carry around 1,100 pounds to low Earth orbit, which compares favorably with the capacity of Rocket Lab's Electron, which can carry around 661 pounds to the same destination.
In January, Virgin Orbit completed its final demonstration mission, reaching orbit for the first time with LauncherOne. That paved the way for this mission, and the company plans to increase the pace and frequency of its commercial missions, with at least one more planned tentatively for later this year and many more in 2022. In terms of payload capacity, Virgin Orbit's Launcher One can carry around 1,100 pounds to low Earth orbit, which compares favorably with the capacity of Rocket Lab's Electron, which can carry around 661 pounds to the same destination.
With all the horrible shit in the world (Score:4, Interesting)
More commercial space launches from multiple companies are a welcome diversion.
What are the advantages? (Score:5, Interesting)
It isn't clear at this point if this is a really commercially viable way of launching. The airplane acts essentially as part of the first stage, giving a partially reusable first stage. But the resulting launch capability is small. LauncherOne's payload to Low Earth Orbit is about 500 kg. This makes it have a larger payload than some other small sat launchers. For example, Rocket Lab's Electron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Lab_Electron [wikipedia.org] has a payload of 300 kg to LEO. But Rocketlab is intending to have a fully reusable first stage and is very close to that. And compared to SpaceX's Falcon 9, which has a payload to LEO of around 20000 kg, these are all small, and they already have fully reusable first stages, where the launch and reuse is routine enough that they don't even get mentioned. (In fact, yesterday shortly after Virgin Orbit's launch, SpaceX had yet another Falcon 9 launch with a reused booster and landed the booster again.)
So what are the advantages of this set up? The main advantage of small sat launchers in general is flexibility. If one has a smallish satellite, one can get a rideshare with a big launch like an Ariane or a SpaceX launch, but that can mean one is beholden to their schedule. Also it means one may not get one's perfectly preferred orbit. The major advantage of small sat launchers is that one can get the orbit you want and launch when you are ready. LauncherOne has the potential to do that even more so; it can launch from pretty much any conventional runway (with a small amount of ground support) so it can launch to almost any reasonable inclination. And it can launch in much worse weather than many other rockets by simply flying the airplane around or above the bad weather. For someone with a small satellite, that may be very tempting. And that is in contrast to the Falcon 9 which due to its extreme height to width ratio is one of the most temperamental rockets out there in terms of weather, resulting in frequent scrubs on what look like clear days when there's just too much high altitude winds.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Re: What are the advantages? (Score:3)
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I don't think they can dominate the market, but they occupy a niche noone else does (though the rocket that fits itself and the launch pad in a few shipping containers, can't recall the name, will come close when it's ready).
That would be Astra https://astra.com/press-kit/ [astra.com].
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The rapid launch capability is interesting too. For example it could provide coverage for disasters or allow companies to keep fewer spares in orbit. Possibly of interest for military uses too.
Hopefully the technology can be developed to handle bigger payloads.
Re:What are the advantages? (Score:4, Informative)
Possibly of interest for military uses too.
More than possibly: "...cubsats developed by the U.S. Department of Defense for its Rapid Agile Launch initiative. The initiative is seeking to test the viability of flying small spacecraft to space on relatively short notice on launch platforms with increased flexibility,"
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Very handy when a certain nation-state with lasers starts shooting.
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Very handy when a certain nation-state with lasers starts shooting.
Sharkmenistan?
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A certain nation-state? Which of the several? India? Israel? Pakistan (suspected)? Australia? France? Japan? Oh, you mean a nation we're supposed to hate! Got it. But which of those? Iran (suspected)? China? Russia?
High powered lasers with fine aiming abilities are not cutting edge technology any more, and haven't been for years.
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Reading comprehension is not your strong point, I take it. Reread what I wrote, move your lips if you need to:
High powered lasers with fine aiming abilities are not cutting edge technology any more
They were blinding satellites with lasers from the ground in the early 1980s, there are a ton of countries with resources to do that now.
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There's also the possibility to "shoot" something around the world outside the majority of the atmosphere and bring it down on the other side of the planet as required (takes about an hour in flight, I believe). Whilst it's true SpaceX could send a lot more that way, as you say, it means waiting for their schedule, and possibly not getting the exact trajectory you want - all compromises which make the proposition all but useless.
Clearly, big launches have the most use-cases. However, as you state, some of t
Re: What are the advantages? (Score:2)
The airplane acts essentially as part of the first stage, giving a partially reusable first stage.
Why would the airplane be considered only 'part' of the first stage? And why would it only be partially reusable?
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Even more than the altitude that the plane fails to provide is the fact that it imparts very little horizontal velocity. The bulk of an orbital rocket's work isn't lifting the payload into space, it's imparting enough horizontal velocity to keep the payload in space. I'm sure you know this, but it's an important point.
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REALLY wish I currently had mod points, so I could up-vote this one another level. GREAT breakdown/comment!
More Coffee (Score:2)
I got to stop reading /. in the morning before I process my first coffee. I read that as "Virgin Orbited for the First Time."
One big advantage is... (Score:2)
That basically the customer does not have to transport the satellite to a launch base. All it has to do is transport to the closest large enough airport, and the entire launch infrastructure will come to it.
Cubsats? (Score:3)
Let me know when they can launch full-grown bearsats.
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", including the first-ever defense satellite for the Netherlands," That one is named BRIK-II. Insert joke about what's going to happen to it in a couple weeks. And that's a 6U cubesat. It is interesting what something of that small size would be capable of. Hilariously that cubesat was designed by ISIS*
(*Innovative Solutions In Space)