Virgin Orbit LauncherOne Straight Up
LauncherOne
Status
Success
Date
2 JUL 2022
06:53
Mission Overview
Launch contracted by the U.S. Space Force for the Rocket Systems Launch Program (RSLP), with payloads provided by the DoD Space Test Program (STP) as part of the Space Force’s STP-28A mission. It will carry seven satellites from multiple government agencies that are experiments intended to demonstrate novel modular satellite bus, space domain awareness, and adaptive radio frequency technologies. The target orbit is approximately 500 km above the Earth’s surface at 45 degrees inclination.
Rocket
LauncherOne
Mission Type
Government/Top Secret
Orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Stages
2
Livestream
Not availableRocket Details
LauncherOne is a two stage orbital launch vehicle developed by Virgin Orbit since 2007. It is an air launch to orbit rocket, designed to launch "smallsat" payloads of 300 kilograms (660 lb) into a Sun-synchronous orbit, following air launch from a carrier aircraft at high altitude.
Height
16 m
Diameter
1.6 m
Launch Mass
30 T
Thrust
327 kN
