Virgin Orbit to launch LauncherOne rockets with Boeing 747 from UK

Virgin Orbit has announced it plans to conduct rocket launches from Cornwall in Britain in 2021. The company does this using a modified Boeing 747, which carries a LauncherOne rocket under its wing.

Vrigin claims that the Cornish spaceport is the first place in the world where space flights and commercial passenger flights take place next to each other. The launch with the 747, also known as Cosmic Girl, takes place by first raising the aircraft to cruise altitude and then launching the LauncherOne two-stage rocket mounted under the left wing. Earlier this month, Vrigin Orbit received permission from the US aviation authority to launch its first satellite from the US in this way.

Virgin Orbit’s announcement coincides with the UK Space Agency’s announcement that vertical launches of rockets are to take place from Sutherland, Scotland, by 2020. At the same time, the British space agency announced that it would also invest in space ports from which horizontal launches can take place. The Cornwall location is one of them.