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Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne will combine to become a big player in commercial spaceflight

Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne will combine to become a big player in commercial spaceflight

In the expanding race for commercial space flight it appears that Elon Musk’s SpaceX is leading with its contracts with NASA to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, as well as delivering other organisations’ satellites to low-Earth orbit. One of the other runners includes British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, owner of both Virgin Galactic, which is focused on spaceflight and space tourism, and Virgin Orbit, which focuses on delivering satellites into orbit, as part of the Virgin Group.

As of 26 October 2018, Branson has flaunted the craft that will make Virgin Orbit a major runner in satellite delivery, in Branson’s words, “connecting the world”. There has been much optimism over the recent unveiling of the dynamic duo that is the LauncherOne rocket and its carrier plane, named Cosmic Girl, which is a modified former-Boeing 747-400 aircraft. LauncherOne is an idea that first came into existence in 2007. However, the original concept was shelved in 2015 when Virgin Orbit decided to go for a larger rocket with a bigger payload capability, upgrading the original 200 kilograms (440 pounds) to low-Earth orbit to 300 kilograms (660 pounds) to a Sun-synchronous orbit.

Branson claims that Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne will deploy satellites into orbit in early 2019. Cosmic

Girl will make the initial 9,100-metre (30,000-foot) climb into the atmosphere before LauncherOne fires its thrusters to drop off satellites, travelling at speeds of 28,000 kilometres (17,500 miles) per hour. In a recent blog post Branson explained that “the team were carrying out the integration check of the rocket with Cosmic Girl to verify mechanical, electrical, software and dynamics all work together for the first time”.

LauncherOne will be able to carry payloads “that could be as small as a loaf of bread and as large as a household fridge”. It uses two Virgin-designed engine stages: NewtonThree produces 330 kilonewtons (74,000 pound-force) of thrust while NewtonFour will provide a smaller 22 kilonewtons (4,900 pound-force). Early into the burn of the second stage the payload at the tip will jettison its clamshell and release the satellite.

The launch vehicle can fly for thousands of miles in any direction with as little as 24 hours notice, whereas at the moment satellite launches from the ground will usually have to wait between 18 and 24 months. This innovative thinking will allow for more frequent and affordable launches, and it will become apparent in the following months just how much of a player Virgin will be in the game of commercial space.

Payload moduleOnce the second stage thrusters are fired the clamshell halves separate to release the satellite at the tip of the rocket. It is capable of placing300 kilograms (660 pounds) into Sunsychronous orbit or 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) into low-Earth orbit. Second stageThe final, less powerful thruster will fire the second stage to orbit, with NewtonFour delivering 22 kilonewtons (4,900 pound-force) of thrust.

First stageOnce reaching a 9,100-metre (30,000-foot) altitude the NewtonThree rocket will fire its pump-fed LOX/RP-1 liquid rocket engine. The NewtonThree engine produces 330 kilonewtons (74,000 pound-force) of thrust.