Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.
Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.
| Year | Historical missions | Forecast launches |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 |
Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.
| Variant | Orbit | Capacity | Altitude | Inclination | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No performance specsNo structured payload capacity rows are linked to this vehicle family. | |||||
Latest launched missions using variants in this family.
| Mission | Variant | Launch |
|---|---|---|
| Launch 2023-F01 | LauncherOne | Jan 9, 2023 |
| STP-S28A | LauncherOne | Jul 2, 2022 |
| STP-27VPB | LauncherOne | Jan 13, 2022 |
| STP-27VPA |
Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.
| Variant | Stages | Missions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
LauncherOne | Not stated | 6 | Retired |
LauncherOne |
| Jun 30, 2021 |
| Elana XX | LauncherOne | Jan 17, 2021 |
| Launch 2020-F04 | LauncherOne | May 25, 2020 |
Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.
| Mission | Variant | Announced |
|---|---|---|
No forecasted missionsNo upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family. | ||
Cosmic Girl, the Boeing 747 aircraft that serves as the launch platform for LauncherOne, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 4:39 p.m. Eastern on 2022-01-13.
Cosmic Girl released the LauncherOne rocket at approximately 5:52 p.m. Eastern on 2022-01-13.
All seven satellites on the 2022-01-13 LauncherOne mission were deployed within about one hour after the rocket release.
Virgin Orbit placed seven cubesats for three customers into orbit on 2022-01-13 using its LauncherOne air-launch system.
Virgin Orbit expects to fly LauncherOne out of Oita, Japan, in 2023 after signing a memorandum of understanding with ANA Holdings in November 2021.
The LauncherOne rocket on the Above the Clouds mission is carrying seven satellites to be deployed into an orbit at 500 km altitude with a 45-degree inclination.
LauncherOne reaches the 45-degree inclination for the Above the Clouds mission by shifting the drop point off the Southern California coast to the west-southwest of the one used on previous launches.
Virgin Orbit’s previous LauncherOne mission took place about five and a half months after the company’s first successful LauncherOne mission in January 2021.
SatRevolution and Virgin Orbit plan to jointly offer up to 500 kg of hosted payload services on LauncherOne rockets.
SatRevolution launched two satellites with Virgin Orbit as part of the LauncherOne Tubular Bells: Part One mission.
SatRevolution is developing a smallsat constellation of imaging satellites and has launched some satellites on Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne.
Hypersat used Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket plane to launch six hyperspectral satellites.
SatRevolution has launched two satellites with Virgin Orbit as part of the LauncherOne Tubular Bells: Part One mission.
SatRevolution and Virgin Orbit plan to jointly offer up to 500 kg of hosted payload services on LauncherOne rockets.
Virgin Orbit completed back-to-back flawless launches prior to preparing the LauncherOne mission Above the Clouds.
Astroscale and Virgin Orbit entered a partnership on 2024-11-17 to examine cooperation in space sustainability, including the potential to launch as many as 10 Astroscale missions on Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne over the next decade and to study a future joint satellite servicing mission.
Virgin Orbit positions its air-launched LauncherOne capability as able to provide responsive launch services on short notice if satellites are rendered incapable or attacked.
Virgin Orbit is seeking to reduce the production cycle for a LauncherOne rocket from one year to six months.
Virgin Orbit plans to begin launching its LauncherOne rocket from a modified Boeing 747 taking off from Cornwall Airport Newquay in the summer following the report.
LauncherOne is a two-stage air-launched rocket capable of carrying small satellites weighing up to 500 kg into sun-synchronous orbit.