Virgin Orbit

Virgin Orbit is a rocket launch service provider in the small satellite market. Originally part of Virgin Galactic, it was branched into a separate company in 2017. Whereas Virgin Galactic is focused on larger payloads and human spaceflight, Virgin Orbit operates a small air-launched rocket called LauncherOne. The rocket is launched from a carrier aircraft called Cosmic Girl.

LauncherOne's first launch (May 25th 2020) was a failure but on January 17, 2021, it successfully deployed ten cubesats into orbit.

Stats

• Founded: March 2nd, 2017
• Owners: Virgin Group, Mubadala
• Services: Orbital air-launched rocket
• Headquarters: Long Beach, California, USA