Branson’s Long Beach-based Virgin Orbit cuts short its test of rocket launch from 747

Officials from billionaire mogul Richard Branson’s Long Beach-based Virgin Orbit said a crucial test of its two-stage, orbital rocket system — designed to rival that of Elon Musk’s SpaceX for satellite launches — ended its mission shortly after the rocket was released from a Boeing Co. 747.

The plane, named Cosmic Girl, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California on Monday, May 25, at 11:56 a.m. Pacific Time, carrying beneath it Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket over the Pacific Ocean. About an hour later, the plane released the rocket in what Virgin Orbit called a “clean” release. Three minutes later, the company said the mission had ended, however.

There have been more than 20 previous tests, including one earlier this year carrying the rocket, but this was meant to be the first time LauncherOne had been ignited. Earlier this week, Virgin Orbit described Monday’s test as “the apex of a five-year-long development program.”

“We’ve confirmed a clean release from the aircraft. However, the mission terminated shortly into the flight,” the company tweeted Monday. “Cosmic Girl and our flight crew are safe and returning to base.”

We’ve confirmed a clean release from the aircraft. However, the mission terminated shortly into the flight. Cosmic Girl and our flight crew are safe and returning to base.

— Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) May 25, 2020

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Prior to Monday’s attempt, Virgin Orbit said maiden flights by government and commercial providers typically fail about half the time. The company’s ultimate goal is to use its rockets to launch small satellites into space, competing with ground-based launches, such as those from Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Hawthorne-based SpaceX got a significant head start. Over the past decade it’s launched about 100 rockets, landed many of them safely back on Earth, and come to dominate the industry, while being valued at close to $40 billion. In a few days, SpaceX is set to carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station — the first time NASA personnel have blasted off from the U.S. since the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk offered his condolences to his competitor Tweeting Monday that he was sorry to hear about the failure.

“Orbit is hard,” Musk wrote on Twitter. “Took us four attempts with Falcon 1.”

We appreciate that, Elon. We’re excited about the data we were able to get today. https://t.co/7fNEIVUdWB

— Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) May 25, 2020

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Shortly after the aborted attempt, Virgin Orbit officials said the company was still able to glean plenty of data to help in their future efforts — for which they already have another launch vehicle ready to go.

“LauncherOne maintained stability after release, and we ignited our first stage engine, NewtonThree,” the company posted on Twitter. “An anomaly then occurred early in first stage flight. We’ll learn more as our engineers analyze the mountain of data we collected today.”

In this first launch demo, we successfully completed all of our pre-launch procedures, captive carry flight out to the drop site, clean telemetry lock from multiple dishes, a smooth pass through the racetrack, terminal count, and a clean release from the aircraft.

— Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) May 25, 2020

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Meanwhile, the Virgin Orbit test this weekend comes at a critical time for Branson, as the coronavirus pandemic weighs heavily on his leisure and travel assets.

The Virgin Australia airline fell into administration last month, and Virgin Atlantic pitched to about a dozen potential investors last week as the U.K. government drags its heels over an emergency bailout.

Branson’s Vieco 10 investment company also recently offloaded about 2% of its stake in a separate space company, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc., as the billionaire looks to support his broader business empire. Virgin Galactic is trying to pioneer space tourism.

​“Our team performed their prelaunch and flight operations with incredible skill today,” said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart in a statement. “We accomplished many of the goals we set for ourselves, though not as many as we would have liked. Nevertheless, we took a big step forward today.  Our engineers are already poring through the data. Our next rocket is waiting. We will learn, adjust, and begin preparing for our next test, which is coming up soon.”

Hart’s statement said Virgin Orbit’s next rocket is nearly ready at the company’s Long Beach manufacturing facility, and six other rockets are also nearing completion.

Bloomberg and staff writer David Rosenberg contributed to this report.

Source: Orange County Register