Author Topic: Virgin Orbit General Discussion  (Read 76950 times)

Offline Conexion Espacial

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #140 on: 05/10/2022 04:46 pm »


Virgin Orbit to launch its first mission from the UK this summer, 9 payloads to travel
National Reconnaissance Office partners with U.K. on space mission to fly on Virgin Orbit rocket
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Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #141 on: 05/10/2022 05:01 pm »
https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1523996636447481857

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Exclusive – Virgin Orbit $VORB is building a fleet of rocket-launching 747s, as the company looks to add international flexibility.

The company is acquiring 2 more jets that L3Harris will modify, with first delivery next year.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/10/virgin-orbit-assembling-fleet-of-747-jets-to-launch-more-rockets-.html



Virgin Orbit’s current 747 “Cosmic Girl” was also modified by L3Harris, and CEO Dan Hart told me the additional aircraft feature improvements that “unleashes us in a few ways” – such as carrying 2 rockets & all ground support equipment to a launch site.



Hart: “The ability to deploy two rockets and all the ground equipment in one airplane, fly somewhere, set it up, and all of a sudden you’ve got a launch base somewhere is a pretty unique.”

The photos seems to fit in with the 2 747s being the ex-"Japanese Air Force One"s - these two were retired in 2019 and replaced by 2 Boeing 777-300ERs.
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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #142 on: 05/10/2022 05:38 pm »
The photos seems to fit in with the 2 747s being the ex-"Japanese Air Force One"s - these two were retired in 2019 and replaced by 2 Boeing 777-300ERs.

The article specifically says "modified cargo airframes," wouldn't the "Japanese Air Force One"s be passenger variants?

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #143 on: 05/11/2022 08:28 pm »
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1524483803904884736

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Virgin Orbit reports a net loss of $62.6M on $2.1M in revenue in its fiscal first quarter. Earnings call at 4:30 pm EDT today.

https://investors.virginorbit.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/38/virgin-orbit-announces-first-quarter-2022-financial-results

Offline su27k

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #144 on: 05/12/2022 03:48 am »
https://spacenews.com/virgin-orbit-projects-growth-despite-widening-loss/

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In an earnings call, Brita O’Rear, chief financial officer at Virgin Orbit, said the low revenue was linked to “introductory pricing” the company offered on initial LauncherOne missions. In its first three operational launches, the company averaged just $2.5 million in revenue per launch. Upcoming “near-term” launches, she said, will generate revenue of $6 million to $12 million each.

<snip>

Virgin Orbit had negative free cash flow of $66.6 million in the quarter, and with $127 million in cash as of the end of the quarter, analysts on the call asked if the company would soon need to raise additional capital. O’Rear said the first quarter should have the highest cash outflow of the year for the company.

“Right now, we see our cash burn improving through the year,” she said, stating that the company has “sufficient liquidity” to get through the year without raising more capital. The company announced in March a standby equity purchase agreement with a hedge fund, Yorkville Advisors, to sell up to $250 million in equity over three years. Virgin Orbit has yet to exercise that agreement, she said.

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #145 on: 05/21/2022 06:10 pm »
https://www.virgin.com/about-virgin/latest/virgin-orbit-to-expand-fleet-with-additional-boeing-747-aircraft

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Virgin Orbit to expand fleet with additional Boeing 747 aircraft
by Natalie Clarkson
11 May 2022


Virgin Orbit has signed an agreement with Harris Technologies to acquire two Boeing 747-400 aircraft to support the growing demand for satellite launches.

Harris will modify one of the aircraft to serve as an additional airborne launch pad for Virgin Orbit’s small satellite launch service, with delivery expected in 2023. L3Harris will also overhaul the platform with a new cargo configuration, which is expected to allow Virgin Orbit to deliver its rockets and ground support equipment in the same aircraft that will launch from foreign spaceports.

Harris and Virgin Orbit have worked together before to produce Virgin Orbit's flagship aircraft Cosmic Girl, which was previously a passenger plane flown by Virgin Atlantic.

“Virgin Orbit is at an exciting juncture in our growth as a company,” said CEO Dan Hart. “As we expand our fleet to serve customers worldwide, we’re enthusiastic to once again partner with L3Harris.”

Luke Savoie, president of ISR Systems at L3Harris, added: “It’s inspiring for our team to see L3Harris’ aircraft engineering and modification experience in action on a mission-enabling platform that has performed brilliantly in its space launch role. We’re excited to help double Virgin Orbit’s innovative fleet so they can serve their customers with greater capacity and mission flexibility.”

Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl has already completed three commercial launches, successfully deploying 26 customer satellites into orbit for multiple commercial, government and military customers. The aircraft will continue to fly missions, including the first launch from the UK expected later this year from Spaceport Cornwall.

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #146 on: 05/22/2022 05:56 pm »
VO hasn't exactly been rushed off their feet launching satellites.

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #147 on: 09/13/2022 10:36 am »
twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1569632062537179138

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On a small satellite rockets panel, Virgin Orbit $VORB CEO Dan Hart says the company continues to study reusability for its rockets, emphasizing that it considers its 747 jet to be the first stage and therefore already has a reusable foundation. #WSBW

https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1569632404196794370

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Hart: Virgin Orbit is focused on driving manufacturing "cost down, so the trade off is pretty unclear of whether reusability makes a whole lot of sense for the rest of the rocket system."

Certainly need a rather higher flight rate to justify the investment required for greater reusability (although Rocket Lab clearly think they’ve got there).

Offline edzieba

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #148 on: 09/13/2022 02:38 pm »
Like with Rocketlab and the two Mahia pads, the goal is not necessarily feeding continuous flight rate but instantaneous flight rate: responsiveness, i.e. how quickly after a launch can you accommodate the next customer launch. The asymptote of that is "lead time? That depends: how soon can you get your payload to our pad?", but being able to accommodate a "we'll pay any price as long as you drop everything else and fly us ASAP" without having to drop everything to do so lets you service a market you would otherwise not be able to, and VO have the value-add that they can bring the launch pad to you. Reusability means you do not need to keep unused rocket bodies on the shelf or be able to build a rocket from scratch at a rapid pace, but can instead have pre-flown vehicles that have already paid for themselves ready to go at short notice.
« Last Edit: 09/13/2022 02:39 pm by edzieba »

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #149 on: 09/20/2022 01:19 pm »
https://virginorbit.com/the-latest/wagner-corporation-collaborates-with-virgin-orbit-to-bring-national-air-launch-capability-to-australia/

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WAGNER CORPORATION COLLABORATES WITH VIRGIN ORBIT TO BRING NATIONAL AIR-LAUNCH CAPABILITY TO AUSTRALIA
SEPTEMBER 19, 2022


Wagner Corporation and Virgin Orbit have signed an agreement to assess a potential LauncherOne demonstration mission from the Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport.

LONG BEACH, CA & WELLCAMP, AUSTRALIA — SEPT. 20, 2022 —Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB), a leading launch provider, announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Wagner Corporation, one of the region’s most successful privately-owned companies and proprietor of the Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport and Business Park in Queensland, Australia. The agreement will allow the companies to begin the process of implementing a national launch capability from Australia, with the goal of providing satellite launch services from the Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport using Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne System.

In pursuing their joint mission to revolutionize the space industry in Australia, Virgin Orbit and Wagner Corporation are exploring the potential to certify Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport as a national spaceport to perform an orbital launch demonstration as early as 2024. The cooperative effort is designed to catalyze the maturing Australian small satellite and space solutions market, stimulate local economic growth, support commercial and civil endeavors and provide Australian defense and government with a flexible, responsive and flight-proven national launch capability in support of a wide range of mission applications.

Drawing on regional and local expertise from Wagner Corporation and on launch and mission expertise from Virgin Orbit, this collaboration will focus its initial efforts on tailoring LauncherOne operations from Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport to comply with Australian launch licensing regulatory requirements and spaceport-specific operations. Both companies aim to develop a roadmap for how LauncherOne’s Mobile Ground Support Equipment and other infrastructure could be built and staged at Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport to provide Australia with a resilient and proven national launch capability, and ultimately transform the Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport into Australia’s leading space industry innovation center. The roadmap will seek to lay out the steps required to enable the first flights of LauncherOne to occur from Australia in as soon as 16-18 months.

“At Virgin Orbit, we look to a day soon when satellites fly to space from Australia,” said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. “We’re thrilled to be working alongside Wagner Corporation, one of the region’s most successful privately-owned companies, to bring the first national orbital launch to Australia. Combining their deep knowledge of infrastructure development and affinity for aerospace with our proven, responsive LauncherOne system, we have all the ingredients to bring spaceflight to Queensland.”

Wagner Corporation Chairman John Wagner said, “Virgin Orbit’s selection of Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport for its newest national spaceport, to perform satellite launches, was extremely exciting and a further significant boost for Queensland and Australia. Wellcamp Airport and Business Park is on track to becoming one of the most sustainable carbon neutral destinations internationally. Virgin Orbit will join Boeing and other international companies as part of Wellcamp’s new world-class, Aerospace and Defence Precinct and Campus, with Stage 1 due for completion by the end of 2024. Attracting global companies such as Virgin Orbit is recognition of the strategic advantages that Wellcamp Airport and the Aerospace and Defence Precinct offers, and we are looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”

“Australian space is open for business,” said James Brown, CEO Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA). “We are excited to see a leading global launch company working with Australian industry to develop an agile, responsive solution for space clients.”

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #150 on: 10/12/2022 12:52 pm »
https://investors.virginorbit.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/55/virgin-orbit-spire-global-sign-multilaunch-agreement

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VIRGIN ORBIT, SPIRE GLOBAL SIGN MULTILAUNCH AGREEMENT

OCTOBER 12, 2022 8:05AM EDT

Spire Global has committed to purchase multiple launches from Virgin Orbit, starting in 2023.

The launches will support Spire’s growing Space Services business as well as upgrades and enhancements to the company’s fully deployed satellite constellation.

The launches are part of Virgin Orbit’s growing launch backlog as it heads towards its first international launch later this year from the United Kingdom.


LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Building on their shared record for successful collaboration in responsive space, Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR), a global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, has entered a binding Launch Service Agreement with leading launch provider, Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB), to purchase multiple launches over several years. The first launch is expected to take place in 2023.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221012005333/en/

Exemplary of the growing demand for the small satellite market, the launches will support the growth of Spire Space Services, a platform which offers customers fast and scalable access to space through a subscription model, and continual upgrades and enhancements to the company’s fully deployed satellite constellation. Spire will make full use of LauncherOne’s demonstrated flexibility by launching to a variety of orbits – from mid-inclination to polar – all out of Virgin Orbit’s first spaceport in Mojave, California.

Spire Global and Virgin Orbit previously demonstrated the flexibility of LauncherOne’s rapid call-up capabilities with the late-load of Spire’s ADLER-1 satellite on board the Above the Clouds mission from Mojave, CA in January 2022, an expedition which took just 22 days from the initial call-up to payload integration. Building on that success, the two companies are teaming up to provide rapid and flexible launch solutions to Spire’s global customer base.

“We’re very pleased to have formed this strategic relationship with the innovative Spire team. Our previous joint execution of the ADLER-1 launch demonstrated the potential of marrying expert satellite capabilities with rapid, flexible launch,” said Virgin Orbit CEO, Dan Hart. “Demand from the small satellite market continues to be strong and we are privileged to be among the few operational companies serving this vitally important sector.”

“Working with Virgin Orbit gives us flexibility and control over launches, rather than waiting for the secondary rideshare market to provide the orbits we want on timelines that we have to work with,” said Robert Sproles, Vice President, Constellation Planning & Operations. “It’s particularly crucial for offering our Space Services customers rapid and reliable access to space so that they can meet their mission-critical deadlines.”

Spire joins Virgin Orbit’s growing backlog of customers seeking both flexibility of launch location and orbital destination. As a small launch provider, Virgin Orbit is dedicated to providing flexible, affordable, rapid launch opportunities anytime, anywhere to the commercial, educational, and government small satellite industry.

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #151 on: 10/18/2022 04:04 pm »
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221017005946/en/Virgin-Orbit-and-Luxembourg-Minister-of-Defence-Sign-Agreement-to-Advance-Allied-Responsive-Space-Capabilities-Across-Europe

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Virgin Orbit and Luxembourg Minister of Defence Sign Agreement to Advance Allied Responsive Space Capabilities Across Europe
An agreement today paves way for direct collaboration between the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence and Virgin Orbit on developing responsive space capabilities that would benefit NATO and other Allies.

October 17, 2022 03:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time
LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) and the Luxembourg Minister of Defence today signed a Letter of Intent that will begin the process towards developing responsive space capabilities inclusive of mobile launch infrastructure that would be based in Luxembourg, but available for NATO partners, and other Allies across the European continent. As part of the agreement, Virgin Orbit, in close coordination with the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence, will assess how a responsive space capability could be based in Luxembourg and optimized for use by NATO and other European allies.

“As we approach the first historic launch in the United Kingdom and recent announcements to bring air-launch capability to other parts of the world, this initiative in Luxembourg resonates as another significant milestone in our journey to enable resilient space access by providing a game-changing global launch infrastructure.”

Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Officer Dan Hart and Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, François Bausch, signed the Letter of Intent for the collaboration at a ceremony in Luxembourg earlier today.

“We look forward to working with the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence to explore how Virgin Orbit’s flexible and mobile LauncherOne system can provide end-to-end responsive space missions to strengthen the resiliency of NATO and other Allies,” Dan Hart, Virgin Orbit CEO said. “As we approach the first historic launch in the United Kingdom and recent announcements to bring air-launch capability to other parts of the world, this initiative in Luxembourg resonates as another significant milestone in our journey to enable resilient space access by providing a game-changing global launch infrastructure.”

In this initiative, Virgin Orbit will develop a plan for the development, delivery, mobilization, and sustainment of LauncherOne Ground Support Equipment and other responsive launch infrastructure that would be allocated for Allied use. Through this collaboration, Virgin Orbit and the Directorate of Defence will engage with partners interested in leveraging this capability and determine the necessary operating constructs and requirements for delivering responsive launch infrastructure to Luxembourg that would allow Allied nations to conduct horizontal launches from a network of active and on-call spaceports in Europe.

Minister of Defence François Bausch declared: “Luxembourg Defence is constantly searching for new ways to strengthen its role as a reference partner in the space domain. As highlighted in our Space Strategy, we aim at contributing to the joint effort in defence by developing high-end space capabilities and ensuring access to space through resilient satellite launch capabilities. Our future cooperation with Virgin Orbit is an excellent example of this ambition and we are looking forward to further investigate how we can contribute to the development of the responsive space capability with Allies and partners.”

Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne flexible launch system offers transportable, mobile, rapid and responsive launch services with the goal of developing a global spaceport network that will offer launch and integrated mission services around the world. In addition to launch services, Virgin Orbit works with partners to provide end-to-end space solutions tailored for defense and intelligence customers.

Building upon the Defence Space Strategy released earlier this year, the collaboration represents one of many activities by the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence to provide resilient SATCOM, Earth Observation, and Space Situational Awareness capabilities, and to foster international cooperation to enable and support the freedom of action in the space domain.

Offline M.E.T.

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #152 on: 10/19/2022 02:45 am »
So what’s VO’s revenue situation looking like these days?

They were greatly celebrated for achieving orbit, but if they are relying solely on launch revenue times must be pretty tough for them.

How many times have they launched this year? 3 or 4 times maybe?

Business model seems pretty shaky based on a half dozen launches a year.
« Last Edit: 10/19/2022 02:47 am by M.E.T. »

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #153 on: 12/10/2022 10:31 am »
After the demo two mission, Virgin Orbit plans to launch six missions in 2021, "and then we want to basically double the cadence the year after, so in 2022 we plan to go to roughly a dozen launches,” Hart said.

Actual results:

- 2021 (2 launches)
- 2022 (2 launches)

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1601384740350664704

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #154 on: 12/20/2022 10:27 am »
https://twitter.com/andrewparsonson/status/1605153860338667520

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Is @VirginOrbit's operation in the UK all smoke and mirrors? I took a look.

https://europeanspaceflight.com/is-virgin-orbit-a-phantom-in-the-uk/

Article looks at accounts, just published, for 2021 and job postings (or lack thereof) etc for signs of VO’s UK operations.

Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #155 on: 01/14/2023 04:57 pm »
Virgin Orbit is (apparently) in dire financial straits, and I can't help but wonder if they could've avoided this by avoiding air launch. I have argued extensively in favor of air launch in the past (and I still think it could work in the right circumstance, like a reusable system), but...

LauncherOne is priced at $12 million per launch, and Electron at $7.5 million per launch, aka, a LauncherOne launch is about 160% the price of a Electron launch.
LauncherOne puts 500kg into LEO, while Electron puts 300 kg into LEO, aka, LauncherOne puts about 166% of the the payload of an Electron into orbit.

Seem pretty reasonable, right?

Now imagine you take away all the costs air launch puts on Virgin Orbit. No 747, no flight crew, no specialized ground equipment for fueling a rocket at an airport. How would LauncherOne and Electron compare then?

It would be one thing if the other benefits of air launch (mainly the operational flexibility), were getting them sales instead. But that certainly doesn't seem to be happening.

I guess I'm just feeling somewhat disillusioned.
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Offline imprezive

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #156 on: 01/14/2023 06:41 pm »
I think you’re forgetting that Electron is also constrained by customer demand and loses money on every launch. They are undoubtedly best in class for small launchers but still not a viable business on its own. All the evidence points to there just not being enough small launch demand to sustain any company.

Offline meekGee

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #157 on: 01/15/2023 05:09 am »
Virgin Orbit is (apparently) in dire financial straits, and I can't help but wonder if they could've avoided this by avoiding air launch. I have argued extensively in favor of air launch in the past (and I still think it could work in the right circumstance, like a reusable system), but...

LauncherOne is priced at $12 million per launch, and Electron at $7.5 million per launch, aka, a LauncherOne launch is about 160% the price of a Electron launch.
LauncherOne puts 500kg into LEO, while Electron puts 300 kg into LEO, aka, LauncherOne puts about 166% of the the payload of an Electron into orbit.

Seem pretty reasonable, right?

Now imagine you take away all the costs air launch puts on Virgin Orbit. No 747, no flight crew, no specialized ground equipment for fueling a rocket at an airport. How would LauncherOne and Electron compare then?

It would be one thing if the other benefits of air launch (mainly the operational flexibility), were getting them sales instead. But that certainly doesn't seem to be happening.

I guess I'm just feeling somewhat disillusioned.
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Offline niwax

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #158 on: 01/15/2023 12:32 pm »
Virgin Orbit is (apparently) in dire financial straits, and I can't help but wonder if they could've avoided this by avoiding air launch. I have argued extensively in favor of air launch in the past (and I still think it could work in the right circumstance, like a reusable system), but...

LauncherOne is priced at $12 million per launch, and Electron at $7.5 million per launch, aka, a LauncherOne launch is about 160% the price of a Electron launch.
LauncherOne puts 500kg into LEO, while Electron puts 300 kg into LEO, aka, LauncherOne puts about 166% of the the payload of an Electron into orbit.

Seem pretty reasonable, right?

Now imagine you take away all the costs air launch puts on Virgin Orbit. No 747, no flight crew, no specialized ground equipment for fueling a rocket at an airport. How would LauncherOne and Electron compare then?

It would be one thing if the other benefits of air launch (mainly the operational flexibility), were getting them sales instead. But that certainly doesn't seem to be happening.

I guess I'm just feeling somewhat disillusioned.

The economics of a size limited rocket just plain don't make sense since the dominant cost is development, even less with exotic technology. You want to really maximize the number of launch opportunities and limit experiments. VO spent some $1.5 billion to get to where they are today and $200 million a year to keep the lights on. To pay minimum lip service to profitability they need to be earning 10% on that initial investment, which together with their fixed costs and just $3 million in hardware and range fees puts their minimum price for 10 launches a year at $38 million. Guess what, those are similar numbers to Pegasus and Vega. To get to their $12.5 million target, they'd need to launch 40 times a year without increasing operating costs.

RocketDevelopment   Return   Fixed costs   Launch costs   Launches/yr   Min. Price   
Electron$100M20%$50M$2.5M10$9.5M
F9 1.0$300M20%$50M$30M10$41M
F9R 1.2$800M20%$200M$25M30$37M
VO (Real)$1500M20%$200M$3M10$53M
VO (Optimistic)$1500M10%$200M$2M20$19.5M
SS (replacing F9)$5000M20%$200M$10M30$50M
SS (Starlink commercial)   $5000M20%$250M$10M100$22.5M

My TL;DR for evaluating a rocket company is this:
1) Drop it if they spend more than $1 billion getting to regular flights without a damn good reason. Even Vulcan is cheaper thanks to subsidies. Starship gets $5 billion because they aim to launch 1000 ships to Mars a year.
2) Cut that by 90% for anything that can't service the mainstream market à la Rocket Lab, Astra, ABL, ...
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Offline Kryten

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Re: Virgin Orbit General Discussion
« Reply #159 on: 01/15/2023 01:08 pm »
Virgin Orbit is (apparently) in dire financial straits, and I can't help but wonder if they could've avoided this by avoiding air launch. I have argued extensively in favor of air launch in the past (and I still think it could work in the right circumstance, like a reusable system), but...

LauncherOne is priced at $12 million per launch, and Electron at $7.5 million per launch, aka, a LauncherOne launch is about 160% the price of a Electron launch.
LauncherOne puts 500kg into LEO, while Electron puts 300 kg into LEO, aka, LauncherOne puts about 166% of the the payload of an Electron into orbit.

Seem pretty reasonable, right?

Now imagine you take away all the costs air launch puts on Virgin Orbit. No 747, no flight crew, no specialized ground equipment for fueling a rocket at an airport. How would LauncherOne and Electron compare then?

It would be one thing if the other benefits of air launch (mainly the operational flexibility), were getting them sales instead. But that certainly doesn't seem to be happening.

I guess I'm just feeling somewhat disillusioned.
Does the total payload even matter much for rockets in the same general class? Small launchers rarely launch with close to mass-limited payloads. The average LauncherOne so far has been carrying less than the average Electron flight.

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