Richard Branson has posted a blog entry on the Virgin Group website announcing withdrawing from participation in projects in Saudi Arabia, including negotiations for investment in Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, in the aftermath of the disappearance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Turkey.https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/my-statement-kingdom-saudi-arabia
Veigin Orbit’s LauncherOne meets Cosmic Girl 747LauncherOne? Meet Cosmic Girl. The brilliant Virgin Orbit team have integrated our LauncherOne rocket with Cosmic Girl, our modified 747, for the very first time[...]
https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/virgin-orbits-launcherone-meets-cosmic-girl-747
Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne Rocket Mated to 'Cosmic Girl'VideoFromSpacePublished on Oct 26, 2018On Oct. 24, 2018, Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket was mated to its 'Cosmic Girl' carrier plane for the first time. The rocket can carry a 300 pound (660 kg) satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit at speeds over 17,500 mph.
Quote from: catdlr on 10/27/2018 03:09 amVirgin Orbit's LauncherOne Rocket Mated to 'Cosmic Girl'VideoFromSpacePublished on Oct 26, 2018On Oct. 24, 2018, Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket was mated to its 'Cosmic Girl' carrier plane for the first time. The rocket can carry a 300 pound (660 kg) satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit at speeds over 17,500 mph.300 kg (660 pound)....
Quote from: ncb1397 on 10/27/2018 03:15 amQuote from: catdlr on 10/27/2018 03:09 amVirgin Orbit's LauncherOne Rocket Mated to 'Cosmic Girl'VideoFromSpacePublished on Oct 26, 2018On Oct. 24, 2018, Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket was mated to its 'Cosmic Girl' carrier plane for the first time. The rocket can carry a 300 pound (660 kg) satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit at speeds over 17,500 mph.300 kg (660 pound)....So roughly 3/4 the capacity of Pegasus and twice that of Electron. The exploded diagram around the 30 second mark in the video shows no “third stage” like HAPS or Curie, so the payload or payloads will go to a single orbit with the injection accuracy of the second stage.
Once released from the carrier aircraft, the LauncherOne rocket fires up its single main stage engine, a 73,500 lbf, LOX/RP-1 rocket engine called the “NewtonThree.” Typically, this engine will fire for approximately three minutes. After stage separation, the single upper stage engine, a 5,000 lbf LOX/RP-1 rocket engine called the “NewtonFour” will carry the satellite(s) into orbit. Typically, the second stage will execute multiple burns totaling nearly six minutes.
At the end of this sequence, LauncherOne will deploy our customers’ satellite (or satellites) into their desired orbit. Both stages of LauncherOne will be safely deorbited, while the carrier aircraft will return to a predetermined airport, where it can be quickly prepared for its next flight.
https://twitter.com/scott_macklin/status/1056628223415447552
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 10/29/2018 08:13 amhttps://twitter.com/scott_macklin/status/1056628223415447552Such a shame then that his new 'favorite couple 4ever' are not only destined to separate, but one of them is very likely to commit suicide shortly thereafter.