On board the spacecraft were the Pentagon communications technology verification satellites, two nanosatellites of the Polish company SatRevolution and the apparatus of the American company Spire
NEW YORK, January 14. /tass/. The American company Virgin Orbit on Thursday, using its LauncherOne air launch vehicle, launched a number of military and civilian satellites into near-Earth orbit. This was announced on Thursday by the company's press service.
The launch of the modified Boeing-747 with a two-stage carrier rocket fixed under the wing from the spaceport in the Mojave Desert (California) took place at 13:38 Pacific Coast time (00:38 Moscow time), the ascent to an altitude of 9.5 km and to the desired point took a little more than an hour, after which the NewtonFour rocket separated from the aircraft and began its flight to near-Earth orbit. "As we learned from the mission control center, Newton-4 has re-ignited and delivered all the customers' vehicles to the calculated orbits," the company said in a Twitter message.
On board the spacecraft were the Pentagon communications technology verification satellites, two nanosatellites of the Polish company SatRevolution and the apparatus of the American company Spire.
The company's rocket reaches 21.3 m in length, it is capable of launching satellites weighing up to 500 kg into space. The company believes that its method of delivering cargo into orbit provides greater mobility - Boeing can take off from airports in any country - and is cheaper than competitors. This launch was the third successful launch of the company, the previous two launches were held in January and June last year.
