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Technical Updates

Technical Updates

Technical Updates

Announcing the Window for Launch Demo 2

Featured , Technical Updates

Launch Demo 2: October Update

Featured , Technical Updates

Wrapping Up Our First Launch Demo, and Looking Ahead to Launch Demo 2

Featured , Technical Updates

Mission Recap: Our First Launch Demo

Technical Updates

Up Next: Our Final Development Test

Technical Updates

Update on Virgin Orbit Ventilators

Technical Updates

In One Year and Out the Other

Technical Updates

Expanding Our Orbit

Technical Updates

LauncherOne: Shaping Up and Shipping Out

We were honored to join our friends from @spacecor

We were honored to join our friends from @spacecornwall and @spacegovuk to host Prime Minister @borisjohnsonuk, Secretary of Transport @grantshapps, and MP Steve Double today in Spaceport Cornwall, site of the #G7Summit. Together, we’re closer than ever to bringing launch to Britain.

During today’s half-hour visit, we had the opportunity to talk to the PM and the Secretary of Transport about how bringing LauncherOne to Spaceport Cornwall will help boost the UK’s incredible space industry, inspire the next generation, and enable vital environmental monitoring.

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks as the tea

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks as the team has pushed the gas on our pre-launch activities! With wet dress rehearsal just around the corner, the stars are aligning for our launch window to open during the last week of June.

Tap the link in our bio for more.
#TubularBellsPartOne

Calling all student academics! 📢 If you’ve

As part of our #AAPIHeritageMonth celebration, we’ve collected stories from talented AAPI teammates across the company, who are all making invaluable contributions to our rocket program.

Learn more about each of their individual journeys in our latest blog!

🔗 virg.in/ZLP3

Happy #NationalSpaceDay from the Virgin Orbit team

Happy #NationalSpaceDay from the Virgin Orbit team!

We’re delighted to announce our next mission to

We’re delighted to announce our next mission to space!

This June, Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne will carry to orbit payloads for the @deptofdefense Space Test Program; Poland-based @satrevolution_; and the Royal Netherlands Air Force (@koninklijkeluchtmacht).

We’re calling this mission “Tubular Bells, Part One,” in homage to the first track and first album ever released by Virgin Records.

Tap the link in our bio to learn more about the mission and the story behind its name. And we have another exciting announcement: for the first time ever, we’ll host a public livestream so you can cheer on the mission from home.

Stay tuned for more info as launch day approaches!

Mojave, Cornwall, Oita, Guam — and now, Alcânta

Mojave, Cornwall, Oita, Guam — and now, Alcântara! 🌎

The Brazilian Space Agency and Brazilian Air Force announced today that Virgin Orbit has been selected to bring orbital launches to Brazil. 🛫🇧🇷

The transportability of our launch system would allow us to operate Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne from the existing airbase at Alcântara Space Center — one of the only continental spaceports in the world that can support missions to *any* orbital inclination.

At Alcântara, our goal is to have essentially zero footprint on the ground: we’ll transport in our entire system — ground support vehicles, Cosmic Girl & the rocket itself — to conduct a launch campaign in a country that has never successfully completed a launch to orbit before.

For the Brazilian community, LauncherOne offers the fastest and most affordable route to a dream that has remained out of reach for over 40 years: a domestic launch capability, which comes with immense scientific and economic benefits without requiring any further land use.

Of course, big thanks to the Stennis team for all

Of course, big thanks to the Stennis team for all their support getting this new test program online! We’re honored to be a part of this facility’s incredible legacy.

The Virgin Orbit team is feeling the heat down in

The Virgin Orbit team is feeling the heat down in Mississippi!

As part of our efforts to develop the next generation of Newton engines, we recently embarked on a major test series in partnership with our friends at @nasastennis.

In the same way that auto makers release new car models year after year, rocket builders too are always looking ahead to the next level of innovation when it comes to our launch vehicles.

Build, test, iterate: a tried and true path to the future.

Bringing some of that work over to Test Cell E-1 at Stennis not only allows us to keep our Mojave test stands humming with other activities, it also gives us the flexibility to experiment with more extensive modifications to our hardware’s design.

As always, we’ll share our favorite hotfire clips, gifs and photos as testing continues — stay tuned.

It’s so worth taking a few extra seconds to prop

It’s so worth taking a few extra seconds to properly recycle your refuse: not only will your local recycling center appreciate the effort, it’s an easy way to help care for our planet! 🌎

In honor of #EarthDay, here are a few tips on how to improve your usual recycling routine.

Here at Virgin Orbit, just one of the ways we recycle is by working with @WasteManagement to convert our food waste into renewable energy that powers their vehicles. Recycling one ton of food waste is equivalent to eliminating the annual CO2 emissions from 30 cars on our Southern California roads. In the first three months of 2020, we recycled 11 tons of food waste — and nearly 34 tons in all of 2019!

We’ve had to pause this program due to Covid, but can’t wait to restart as soon as it’s safe and healthy to do so.