Small satellite launch company Virgin Orbit is set to launch it’s LauncherOne rocket on its first operational flight since wrapping up its flight test program earlier this year. Launch is scheduled for a window from 6:00 to 8:00 AM PDT (13:00 to 15:00 UTC) on June 30, with backup windows available though July.
LauncherOne Flight Three, also known as “Tubular Bells Part One” in reference to the first track on the first album released by Richard Branson’s record label, Virgin Records, marks the first operational flight of LauncherOne, the rocket having previously flown two demonstration flights in May 2020 and January 2021. The mission aims to place seven small satellites into an approximately 500 km orbit with a 60 degree inclination around Earth.
LauncherOne’s first flight test, carrying only dummy payloads, launched in May of 2020, but failed shortly into its first stage burn, resulting in a loss of mission and payload. On the rocket’s second test flight, carried out in January of this year, the rocket successfully delivered ten small satellites for NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program into orbit, certifying LauncherOne for operational flight.
Flight Plan
Unlike other small satellite launch vehicles such as Rocket Lab’s Electron or Firefly Aerospace‘s Firefly Alpha, LauncherOne does not launch from a stationary launch site on the ground. Instead, LauncherOne is hooked up to a modified Boeing 747-400 aircraft known as Cosmic Girl, flown to altitude, and then released over the Pacific Ocean, following which the rocket will make its way to orbit.
This method of air launched orbital spacecraft isn’t new, most notably having been used by Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus rocket, although LauncherOne marks the first liquid fueled rocket to utilize the method.
Cosmic Girl is scheduled to take off from California’s Mojave Air and Space Port no earlier than 5:30 AM PDT (12:30 UTC), following which the aircraft will take LauncherOne to the launch zone at around 35,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean.
After Cosmic Girl arrives at the launch zone, and once weather and technical conditions are confirmed to be nominal, the aircraft will release LauncherOne from under its left wing. Nominally this will occur about one hour after takeoff, although Virgin Orbit states that this could occur sometime between 30 minutes and four hours after departing Mojave.
Four seconds after Cosmic Girl releases it, LauncherOne will ignite it’s single NewtonThree first stage engine, providing the rocket with around 330 kN of thrust and accelerating the rocket to around 12,870 kph during an approximately three minute long first stage burn.
A LauncherOne test article is released from Cosmic Girl during a planned drop test in 2019 – via Virgin Orbit
Somewhere between 500 and 1100 km above the surface of Earth, the second stage will separate from the first, followed by ignition of LauncherOne’s NewtonFour second stage engine. NewtonFour will allow for approximately six minutes of flight time, which will be utilized over several precise burns in order to deliver LauncherOne’s payloads into the targeted 510 km, 60 degree orbit around Earth.
Both stages of LauncherOne are fueled by rocket grade kerosene known as Rocket Propellant 1 (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX).
Once the spacecraft has completed it’s second stage burn, the payload of seven small spacecraft will begin the process of being deployed into their final orbits. LauncherOne’s second stage will continue to orbit the Earth until atmospheric drag eventually causes it to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and safely disintegrate.
Payloads
The Tubular Bells Part One mission consists of seven small spacecraft, representing three different customers, including Virgin Orbit’s first commercial customer.
Technicians aiding in the integration of the Tubular Bells Part One payload prior to launch – via Virgin Orbit
The first customer is the United States Department of Defense (DoD), specifically the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) of the US Space Force. The four DoD spacecraft being launched aboard Tubular Bells Part One are all part of the SMC’s Space Test Program (STP) which supports, develops, and carries out space based technology experiments for the US military.
The four STP spacecraft launching aboard LauncherOne are specifically part of the STP’s Rapid Agile Launch Initiative (RALI), although very little details of the spacecraft’s have been released. The DoD has confirmed the mission has been officially named STP-VP27A.
The fifth payload aboard Tubular Bells Part One is the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) Brik-II spacecraft. Brik-II will be the first satellite launched by the RNLAF and is the product of an agreement between the Government of the Netherlands, the Delft University of Technology, and ISISpace, a Dutch company that develops and operates cubesats.
As it is a military spacecraft, there have been very little details released about the exact purpose of Brik-II, although the Dutch Defense Ministry has confirmed that the spacecraft is a six unit (6U) sized CubeSat. Brik-II will serve as a testbed for various communications technology experiments as well as a demonstrator for how CubeSats may aid military operations.
Representatives of the parties developing and operating BRIK-II with a model of the spacecraft – via the Dutch Ministry of Defense
The final two payloads are STORK-4 and STORK-5, two small Earth observation spacecraft marking the first two spacecraft to be launched as part of SatRevolution’s 14 satellite STORK Earth observation constellation. SatRevolution is the first commercial customer to fly aboard LauncherOne.
SatRevolution is a Polish company providing Earth observation services through cubesats. The STORK spacecraft are a group of 4U sized cubesats based on SatRevolution’s Nanobus satellite bus, that, according to SatRevolution, will provide an optical resolution of up to five meters.
The third and fifth STORK spacecraft, STORK-1 and STORK-2, are scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 dedicated small satellite rideshare flight sometime in 2021. SatRevolution hopes that the remaining 10 STORK spacecraft needed to build the constellation will be launched over the course of the next few years.
(Lead photo via Virgin Orbit)