Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

3 hours ago

Trump Escalates Feud With Musk, Threatens Tesla, SpaceX Support

3 hours ago

Musk Vows to Punish Lawmakers Who Back Trump’s Spending Bill

19 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years for $4.2 Million Tech Startup Fraud

19 hours ago

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

21 hours ago

Will Valadao Spoil Trump’s Plan for July 4th ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Signing?

22 hours ago

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

1 day ago
Branson's Virgin Orbit Fails on First Rocket Launch Attempt
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
May 26, 2020

Share

LOS ANGELES — Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit failed Monday in its first test launch of a new rocket carried aloft by a Boeing 747 and released over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California.

The inaugural launch had appeared to be going well until moments after the rocket was dropped from beneath the left wing of the jumbo jet dubbed Cosmic Girl.

“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 said in its official Twitter commentary on the launch.

There was no immediate word on what went wrong with the rocket, which carried a test satellite.

Will Pomerantz, Virgin Orbit’s vice president for special projects, commented during a preflight briefing Saturday that about half of first rocket launches fail.

“History is not terribly kind, necessarily, to maiden flights,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer Dan Hart said during the briefing that there had been numerous tests, discussions and introspection to verify that the system was ready.

“In the end the questions are always, has everything been thought about and are there any gaps or seams, and those are the questions you only learn when you commit to flight,” Hart said.

Purpose of Flight Was to Gather Data on Launch Process

The highly modified jumbo jet took off from Mojave Air and Space Por t in the desert north of Los Angeles and flew out just beyond the Channel Islands, where the drop occurred.

The rocket was supposed to fall for a few seconds before the first of its two stages ignited and hurtled it down the coast toward the South Pole for insertion of its demonstration payload into a low Earth orbit.

The purpose of the flight was to gather data on every step of the launch process rather than to have a useful satellite in orbit; the demonstration payload was described as an inert mass and the intended orbit was very low to avoid contributing to the problem of space junk.

The attempt followed five years of development of the 70-foot-long (21.3 meter) LauncherOne rocket.

How long the setback will affect the company was not immediately clear. It has six additional rockets under construction in its factory.

“The team’s already hard at work digging into the data, and we’re eager to hop into our next big test ASAP,” the company tweeted. “Thankfully, instead of waiting until after our 1st flight to tackle our 2nd rocket, we’ve already completed a ton of work to get us back in the air and keep moving forward.”

A successful launch by Virgin Orbit would have marked a dramatic step in getting back on track after the coronavirus pandemic sent most employees home earlier this year while work spaces, procedures and mission control were adjusted.

Virgin Orbit is targeting the market for launching satellites ranging in size from toasters to household refrigerators.

The time is right for the small satellite launch market, Hart said on Saturday.

Virgin Orbit Says It Has Dozens of Missions on the Books for Customers

Technology advancements have enabled satellites much smaller than traditional payloads to do “real work” in space, typically from low Earth orbit, and for markets ranging from commercial to national security, he said.

While other companies are developing rockets for the small satellite market and builders of big rockets like SpaceX can carry them into orbit in a ride-share arrangement with large satellites, Virgin Orbit’s air launch system based on the aviation industry’s workhorse 747 is intended to put a satellite up when and where a customer needs it, Hart said.

“We can fly to space from any place that can host a 747, which is almost any place,” he said.

Virgin Orbit says it has dozens of missions on the books for customers including the U.S. Space Force and the Royal Air Force. Internationally, it is working on plans for launches from the United Kingdom and Japan.

Hart did not provide a specific dollar value for the missions it has on the books but characterized it as “hundreds of millions.”

Air launch technology dates back decades, including use by X-15 rocket planes in the 1950s and ’60s. For satellites the method is currently in use by what is now Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus rocket program, which has had several dozen launches since 1990.

Virgin Orbit, headquartered in Long Beach, California, began as a sister company of Virgin Galactic but has since separated. Virgin Galactic is preparing to begin flights carrying passengers into the lower reaches of space from southern New Mexico.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Zohran Mamdani Officially Wins Democratic Primary for New York City Mayor

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Amaury Fernandez

DON'T MISS

CA Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law to Speed Housing Construction

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Investigate Deadly Shooting Near Bethlehem Center

DON'T MISS

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

DON'T MISS

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

DON'T MISS

Musk Promises a New Political Party if the GOP Bill Passes

DON'T MISS

Dollar Gains Ground Against Major Peers After Better-Than-Expected US Jobs Data

DON'T MISS

A Path Forward on Immigration Reform That Strengthens America

DON'T MISS

France Shuts Schools, Italy Limits Outdoor Work as Heatwave Grips Europe

UP NEXT

California Seizes Over 600,000 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks. Newsom Calls for Safe Celebrations

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Buying a Home With Solar? Beware of CA Bill Written by Former Utility Co. Exec

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Sues Los Angeles Over Immigration Enforcement

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Immigration Raids Leave Crops Unharvested, California Farms at Risk

UP NEXT

CA’s Population Shrank in Trump’s First Immigration Crackdown. It Could Happen Again

UP NEXT

Controversial Climate Rule That Could Raise Gas Prices About to Take Effect

UP NEXT

US Supreme Court Lets Parents Take Kids Out of Classes With LGBT Storybooks

UP NEXT

California’s Newsom Sues Fox News for $787 Million for Defamation Over Trump Call

Visalia Police Investigate Deadly Shooting Near Bethlehem Center

1 hour ago

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

1 hour ago

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

2 hours ago

Musk Promises a New Political Party if the GOP Bill Passes

2 hours ago

Dollar Gains Ground Against Major Peers After Better-Than-Expected US Jobs Data

2 hours ago

A Path Forward on Immigration Reform That Strengthens America

2 hours ago

France Shuts Schools, Italy Limits Outdoor Work as Heatwave Grips Europe

2 hours ago

Powell Reiterates Fed Will Wait for More Data Before Cutting Rates

2 hours ago

Visalia Police Investigate Morning Shooting Outside Bethlehem Center

3 hours ago

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

3 hours ago

Zohran Mamdani Officially Wins Democratic Primary for New York City Mayor

NEW YORK — Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist whose blend of populist ideas and personal magnetism catapulted his upstart candidacy, w...

3 minutes ago

Zohran Mamdani addresses supporters on primary night, in New York, June 24, 2025. Mamdani, the democratic socialist whose blend of populist ideas and personal magnetism catapulted his upstart candidacy, has won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, according to The Associated Press. (Shuran Huang/The New York Times)
3 minutes ago

Zohran Mamdani Officially Wins Democratic Primary for New York City Mayor

Amaury Fernandez is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for July 1, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
30 minutes ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Amaury Fernandez

1 hour ago

CA Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law to Speed Housing Construction

A 36-year-old man died after being shot multiple times outside the Bethlehem Center in Visalia, prompting an active homicide investigation on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (Visalia PD)
1 hour ago

Visalia Police Investigate Deadly Shooting Near Bethlehem Center

President Donald Trump arrives at a dinner for NATO heads of state and governments hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Dutch Queen Maxima, on the sidelines of a NATO Summit, at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, Netherlands June 24, 2025. (Reuters/Toby Melville)
1 hour ago

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

President Donald Trump and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speak with the media at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on the day of the opening of a temporary migrant detention center informally known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in Ochopee, Florida, U.S., July 1, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
2 hours ago

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

Tesla CEO Elon Musk greets U.S. President Donald Trump as they attend the NCAA men's wrestling championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., March 22, 2025. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo)
2 hours ago

Musk Promises a New Political Party if the GOP Bill Passes

U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 19, 2025. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
2 hours ago

Dollar Gains Ground Against Major Peers After Better-Than-Expected US Jobs Data

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend