Low Earth Orbit, Air-Launched Sats will Study Communications, Survey Land, and Study Orbital Debris

Virgin's space delivery company Virgin Orbit has announced its launch window for the next air launched satellite delivery, titled "Above the Clouds".

The launch is expected to take place on January 12, 2022 when a trio of small satellites are sent into Low Earth Orbit at 310 miles.

Those aboard include a unit from Spire Global, Polish outfit SatRevolution, and the US DoD Space Test Program. 

Orbit's launch systems vary from the garden variety rocket systems, instead operating with the use of Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747-400 that mounts a space-bound rocket on its engine transfer pylon. Above the Clouds will be the first Orbit launch since June of 2021, the latest operation that brought the company's 19th satellite into orbit.

The payload from the DoD will serve as a testbed for space-based communications and in-space navigation. The satellite was designed by Virgin Orbit subsidiary Vox Space under the Space Test Program's Rapid Agile Launch Initiative  The DoD hopes the experiments will accelerate the adoption of commercial technology and advance the technology backing telecommunications in the USA. 

SatRevolution will see 2 of its nanosatellites, STORK-3 and SteamSat-2 aboard the mission, where the former will act in conjunction with extant STORK-series spacecraft to provide medium-resolution photos for agricultural customers. SteamSat is a technology demonstrator for a water-fueled thruster program in the UK, testing the viability of alternate propulsion technology. 

Spire Global, another satellite imaging provider, will launch Adler-1. The satellite will study space debris in Low Earth Orbit and add higher-resolution data to current models as it maps the celestial topography. Spire Global's satellite was a last-minute addition to the mission, a fortuitous change that Virgin upholds as an example their fast-moving flexibility in responding to customer needs. 

FMI: www.virginorbit.com