Virgin Orbit LauncherOne Tubular Bells, Part One
LauncherOne
Status
Success
Date
30 JUN 2021
14:47
Mission Overview
The mission includes three cubesats for US Department of Defense which are launched as a part of the DoS Space Test Program (STP); the Netherland's first military satellite, a cubesat called BRIK II; and two optical satellites, STORK-4 and STORK-5, for SatRevolution's STORK constellation. The mission name, "Tubular Bells, Part One", references the first music album released by Virgin Records label in the 1970s. The label was established by Virgin Orbit CEO Richard Branson.
Rocket
LauncherOne
Mission Type
Dedicated Rideshare
Orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Stages
2
Livestream
Rocket 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
