Virgin Orbit kicked off an ambitious launch schedule for 2022 on Thursday by sending seven small satellites into space aboard a rocket launched from a jet high above the Pacific Ocean.
The LauncherOne rocket is to ignite around 2:30 p.m. PST from under the wing of the company's Cosmic Girl, a modified 747. That's about 50 minutes after it took off successfully from Mojave Air and Space Port in Southern California at 1:39 p.m. PST.
Virgin Orbit successfully completed launches using the same method twice in 2021.
Company officials said in a press conference Tuesday they hope to launch six missions in 2022, which would position the firm among the most active current space launch companies.
"This year we're targeting six launches and basically doubling our cadence," CEO Dan Hart said.
Among other plans discussed Tuesday were goals to launch from Spaceport Cornwall in western England in 2022 and from Guam and Brazil in subsequent years.
Thursday's launch is prepared to carry four satellites for the U.S. Department of Defense that will test undisclosed new technologies for in-space communication and navigation.
The mission also carries two tiny satellites for Polish company SatRevolution, which was a Virgin Orbit customer on its last launch in June.
SatRevolution's spacecraft for Thursday's launch are known as STORK-3, which gathers images and data of farmland, and SteamSat-2, which will test water-fueled thrusters.
Finally, Virginia-based Spire Global, a satellite imaging provider, will launch Adler-1, which was developed in partnership with German and Austrian partners to study space debris in low-Earth orbit.
The rocket will carry the satellites to a unique orbit, launching on a 45-degree inclination from the equator, which has never been attempted from the West Coast, said Tony Gingiss, Virgin Orbit chief operating officer.
Achieving such an orbit is "really showing the flexibility and capability of our system that [enables us] to get to a place where we can get to this orbit," Gingiss said.
Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl can take off from any major airport runway carrying the rocket under its wing, whereas most rockets can only launch from vertical space launchpads.
The company currently seeks licensing to launch from Guam and final approvals to launch from Spaceport Cornwall, Gingiss said.
If the company's plan to launch from Cornwall is successful, that would mark the first ever orbital space launch from England or Europe, Hart said.
The European Space Agency has a successful space program using French company Arianespace's rockets, but those launch from the agency's spaceport in French Guiana, South America.
The new Virgin Orbit mission is named Above the Clouds, which references Virgin Orbit's former parent company Virgin Group, which still owns a majority stake in the launcher. Virgin Records' released hip hop duo Gang Starr's Above the Clouds album in 1998.
