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. | ||
ExoTerra Resources, a Colorado startup, received a NASA Small Business Innovation Research contract on 2020-10-05 to develop a solar electric upper stage to boost small satellites launched on Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne beyond low Earth orbit.
Virgin Orbit asked OneWeb’s bankruptcy court to require OneWeb to pay $46,300,000 as a contract termination fee for 35 LauncherOne missions canceled in 2018.
Virgin Orbit carried out its first demonstration mission for the air-launched LauncherOne vehicle on 2020-05-25.
Virgin Orbit’s first LauncherOne flight on 2020-05-25 failed to reach orbit.
LauncherOne is an air-launched rocket that is dropped from a Boeing 747 and uses the NewtonThree engine.
A second LauncherOne rocket was nearing completion at Virgin Orbit’s Long Beach, California factory as of mid-2020.
Virgin Orbit holds a Venture Class Launch Services contract, originally awarded in 2015, for a launch of a group of cubesats that will be one of the first operational missions for LauncherOne.
The first flight of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne on 2020-05-25 failed to reach orbit when a propellant line broke seconds after ignition of the rocket’s first stage engine.
Virgin Orbit’s first LauncherOne launch on 2020-05-25 failed to reach orbit and carried a demonstration payload only.
Development of the LauncherOne rocket continues after the company’s first launch failed to reach orbit on 2020-05-25.
Virgin Orbit set a price of about $12,000,000 per LauncherOne launch prior to entering service.
LauncherOne started as a Virgin Galactic project unveiled by Richard Branson at the Farnborough International Airshow in July 2012.
Virgin Galactic spun out the LauncherOne project into a separate company, Virgin Orbit, in March 2017 based in Long Beach, California.
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne failed to reach orbit in its first launch attempt on 2020-05-25.
Virgin Galactic acquired a Boeing 747 from Virgin Atlantic in 2015 to serve as the LauncherOne carrier aircraft and the name "Cosmic Girl" dates back to the aircraft’s use by the airline.
Cosmic Girl is a Boeing 747 that serves as the air-launch platform for the LauncherOne rocket.
Cosmic Girl is scheduled to take off from the Mojave Air and Space Port about 12:30 p.m. Eastern with release of the LauncherOne rocket 45 to 60 minutes later.
Virgin Orbit tested a LauncherOne test article in a drop test in July 2019.
Virgin Orbit plans to perform its inaugural LauncherOne mission on 2020-05-24 with Cosmic Girl, the company’s modified Boeing 747, flying out of the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
Virgin Orbit will make the first flight of its LauncherOne air-launched vehicle as soon as 2020-05-24.