During its short life, Virgin Orbit successfully launched 33 satellites into orbit – all launches took place under contracts with private and public companies, including NASA and the UK Ministry of Defence. The company used an atypical way to send small rockets into space, which ultimately killed her. The thing is, Virgin Orbit ditched the usual vertical launches from the ground in favor of horizontal launches. The LauncherOne rocket, which has failed the creators more than once, was attached to the left wing of a Boeing 747 named “Space Girl”. The plane reached the desired height and then dropped the device at the designated place. According to Virgin Orbit, this technology has enabled space launches from anywhere in the world with relatively short preparation for the mission. The first flight in 2020 ended in failure – LauncherOne crashed into the Pacific Ocean with the cargo. This was followed by four successful launches – investors hoped the multi-million dollar investment would pay off very soon. However, new players with more profitable offers have appeared on the market. Flights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which performs traditional vertical launches, turned out to be several times cheaper, experts say.
Virgin Orbit successfully launched 33 satellites in its short life
