LauncherOne

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

LauncherOne
LauncherOne Diagram.svg
LauncherOne diagram
Manufacturer Virgin Orbit
Country of origin United States
Project costUS$700 million [1]
Cost per launchUS$12 million [2]
Size
HeightApprox. 21.3 m (70 ft) [3]
MassApprox. 30 tons
Stages2 [3]
Capacity
Payload to 500 km SSO [3]
Mass300 kg (660 lb)
Total launches6
Success(es)4
Failure(s)2
First flight25 May 2020
Last flight9 January 2023
First stage
Diameter1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) [4] [3]
Powered by NewtonThree (N3)
Maximum thrustVacuum: 326.8 kN (73,500 lbf)
Burn timeApprox. 180 seconds
Propellant RP-1/LOX

LauncherOne is a two-stage air-launched vehicle. The rocket had a diameter of 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) for the first stage and 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) for the second stage and payload fairing. [4]

On the 24th of October 2019, the company announced plans to develop a three-stage variant that would be capable of launching 100 kg (220 lb) to the Moon, 70 kg (150 lb) to Venus, or 50 kg (110 lb) to Mars. [37]

Engines

LauncherOne is a two-stage air-launched vehicle using Newton engines, RP-1/LOX liquid rocket engines. The second stage was to be powered by NewtonOne, a 211 kN (47,000 lbf) thrust engine. It was originally intended that the first stage will be powered by a scaled-up design of the same basic technology as NewtonOne, called NewtonTwo, with 211.5 kN (47,500 lbf) of thrust. Both engines had been designed, and as of January 2014 first articles were built. NewtonOne was tested up to a full-duration burn of five minutes. NewtonTwo made several short-duration firings by early 2014. [16]

NewtonThree is a 260–335 kN (58,000–75,000 lbf)-thrust engine, and began hot-fire tests as of March 2015. NewtonThree powered the first stage of LauncherOne. [18] [49]

2015 redesign: new engines, larger payloads, new carrier aircraft

LauncherOne will be launched from this former Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747, named Cosmic Girl. G-VWOW (11029742813).jpg
LauncherOne will be launched from this former Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747, named Cosmic Girl.

News reports in September 2015 indicated that the higher payload is to be achieved by longer fuel tanks and the NewtonThree engine but this will mean that White Knight Two would no longer be able to lift it to launch altitude. The rocket was to be carried to launch altitude by a Boeing 747. [50] [51] The revised LauncherOne utilizes both the Newton 3 and Newton 4 rocket engines. [23]

In December 2015, Virgin announced a change to the carrier plane for LauncherOne, as well as a substantially-larger design point for the rocket itself. The carrier aircraft will now be a Boeing 747, which will in turn allow a larger LauncherOne to carry heavier payloads than previously planned. The modification work on the particular Boeing 747 that Virgin has purchased is expected to be completed in 2016, to be followed by Orbital test launches of the rocket in 2017. [23]

Intended usage

LauncherOne is designed to launch a 300 kg (660 lb) payload to a 500 km (310 mi) Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), suitable for CubeSats and small payloads. [52] [53] Virgin Orbit has also announced the ability of LauncherOne to send payloads into heliocentric orbit for flybys of Mars, Venus or asteroids. [54]

Launch sites

Mojave Air and Space Port Kluft-photo-aerial-Mojave-Spaceport-Sept-2009-Img 0227.jpg
Mojave Air and Space Port

Virgin Orbit integrated payloads at their headquarters in Long Beach, California. [3]

LauncherOne launched from the Cosmic Girl Boeing 747-400 carrier, attached to a pylon on the aircraft's left wing, and released over the ocean at a location depending on the desired orbital inclination. This process avoids typical delays for ground launches due to weather and upper-level winds. [3] William Pomerantz of Virgin Orbit stated that any airport that can support a Boeing 747 could have been used, subject to local legislation. [55]

The carrier plane lifted off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, United States and Newquay Airport in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The company also had plans to use other airports such as Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Alcântara Space Center in Brazil that never materialized. Other proposed launch sites included Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport in Hawaii, José Aponte de la Torre Airport in Puerto Rico, [56] Oita Airport in Japan, Andersen Air Force Base in Guam [57] and Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport in Australia. [58]

Past launches

Flight no.Date and time
(UTC)		Launch sitePayloadOrbitCustomerOutcome
125 May 2020
19:50 [59] 		Mojave Air and Space Port Launch Demo with "inert test payload" (Starshine 4) and INTERNSAT (intended to remain attached to the upper stage). Low Earth Virgin Orbit Failure
Flight test, maiden orbital flight. Launch failure after successful release and ignition of the NewtonThree engines on the first stage. A high-pressure propellant line broke causing liquid oxygen to stop flowing into the engine. Issue was addressed through strengthening engine components that broke. [42] [41] Prior to failure aerodynamics including fins acted as expected. [41]
217 January 2021
19:38:51 [60] [61] 		Mojave Air and Space Port ELaNa 20 payloads: CACTUS-1, CAPE-3, EXOCUBE-2, MiTEE, PICS 1, PICS 2, PolarCube, Q-PACE, RadFXSat-2, TechEdSat-7. [62] Low Earth NASA Success
Dedicated launch of 10 NASA sponsored CubeSats. First successful launch of LauncherOne and the first fully liquid-fueled air-launched rocket to reach orbit.
330 June 2021
14:47 [63] 		Mojave Air and Space Port STP-27VPA, BRIK-II, STORK-4, STORK-5 (MARTA) Low Earth MDA, USA SMDC, U.S. Navy, RNLAF, SatRevolution Success
Tubular Bells, Part One mission. [64] STP-27VPA is composed of four military CubeSats: Gunsmoke-J 3, HALO-Net Free Flyer, and two CNCE Blk 1 satellites. [65]
413 January 2022
22:51:39 [66] 		Mojave Air and Space Port STP-27VPB (PAN-A and B, GEARRS-3, TechEdSat-13), SteamSat-2, STORK-3, ADLER-1 (Lemur-2 Krywe). Low Earth Department of Defense, NASA, SteamJet Space Systems, SatRevolution, Austrian Space Forum Success
Above the Clouds mission. STP-27VPB mission for the Defense Innovation Unit is composed of four CubeSats: PAN-A/B (ELaNa 29 mission), GEARRS-3, and TechEdSat-13.
52 July 2022
06:53 [67] [68] 		Mojave Air and Space Port CTIM-FD, GPX-2, Gunsmoke-L (Lonestar) × 2, MISR-B, NACHOS-2, Recurve, Slingshot-1 Low Earth U.S. Space Force, DND, CU Boulder, Langley Research Center Success
Straight Up mission. STP-S28A mission for the U.S. Space Force, consisting of 7 satellites. The ELaNa 39 mission, consisting of two CubeSats, [69] was launched on this flight. [70] Virgin Orbit's first nighttime launch. [67]
69 January 2023
23:08:49 [71] [72] 		Spaceport Cornwall AMAN, CIRCE A & B, DOVER, ForgeStar-0, IOD-3 Amber, Prometheus 2A & 2B, STORK-6 Low Earth ETCO, Dstl / NRL, RHEA Group, Space Forge, Satellite Applications Catapult, UK Ministry of Defence / NRO, SatRevolution Failure
Start Me Up mission. First LauncherOne flight from Spaceport Cornwall. The rocket suffered an during second stage burn and did not reach orbit. [73]

Not materialized launches

Flight no.Date and time
(UTC)		Launch sitePayloadOrbitCustomerNote
72023 [74] Mojave Air and Space Port QPS-SAR-5 Low Earth iQPS Launched on Rocket Lab Electron
Moved to Rocket Lab's Electron rocket.
2023 [75] Mojave Air and Space Port Athena & STP-S28C payloads Low Earth U.S. Air Force, NovaWurks
STP-S28C mission.
2023 [76] Mojave Air and Space Port Low Earth U.S. Air Force, CU Boulder, The Aerospace Corporation
STP-S28B mission. [77] The ELaNa-46 mission, consisting of three CubeSats, will launch on this flight. [70]
2023 [78] [79] Mojave Air and Space Port HYPERSAT 1 Low Earth HyperSat
First of six launches contracted to Virgin Orbit for HyperSat's hyperspectral satellite constellation.
2023 [80] Mojave Air and Space Port NorthStar × 3 Low Earth NorthStar
2023 [81] Mojave Air and Space Port Lemur-2 × ? Low Earth Spire Global
First of multiple launches contracted to Virgin Orbit for Spire Global.
[82] [83] [84] Mojave Air and Space Port SatRevolution Mars mission Areocentric SatRevolution
Commercial smallsat mission to Mars, using the Exploration 3-Stage Variant of LauncherOne.

Launch statistics

See also

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