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July 06, 2021

Virgin Orbit’s 'Tubular Bells' Mission Confirmed As Complete Success

LauncherOne Carried A Total Of 7 Satellites To Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

Virgin Orbit has confirmed that it successfully deployed into orbit all 7 customer satellites onboard its LauncherOne rocket during their recent Tubular Bells: Part One mission. Virgin Orbit’s 747 carrier aircraft Cosmic Girl took off from Mojave Air and Space Port Wednesday morning at approximately 6:50 A.M. PDT and flew out to a launch site over the Pacific Ocean, about 50 miles south of the Channel Islands. After a smooth release from the aircraft, the LauncherOne rocket ignited and propelled itself towards space, ultimately deploying its payload into a precise target orbit approximately 500km above the Earth’s surface.

From 2015 (YouTube Version): The Airframes Displayed At AUVSI 2015 Were Quite Innovative

It’s common to visualize a small vertical lift UAV as having 4 to 6 propellers, it’s very maneuverable, but it has a short range and limited load caring capabilities. Well, NASA says you can have your cake and eat it too with something they call “Greased Lightning.” ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, spent time at the Unmanned Systems 2015 Conference and met with aerospace engineer Bill Fredericks to talk about what’s different with their vehicle. Fredericks says they’re developing a vehicle that will have four times the