Virgin Orbit Preparing to Air Launch "Tubular Bells" Missile to Orbit

This two stage liquid fueled missile is lofted by a 747 named "Cosmic Girl" and provides a payload capacity of about 300 kg. Today's launch carries payloads for the U.S. Department of Defense Space Test Program, Polish satellite firm SatRevolution, and the Royal Netherlands Air Force.

Last Edited by Astromut on 06/30/2021 10:04 AM

Sounds like they're now aiming for a drop time from the 747 of 14:47 which I suspect is GMT, so about 44 minutes from now.

The 747 is accelerating now in preparation for the pull up maneuver for launch.

It's away!

5*

Thank You Astro!

That was pretty cool.

Wonder if Mike Oldfield has that trademarked? One of the most popular new age albums and compositions of all time in case you didn't know.

They still don’t know if it was successful???

9 minutes ago: “ An hour after the rocket firing, Virgin Orbit was still awaiting confirmation that the launch was a success.“

That's normal for their launcher. They don't tend to get confirmation for a while, probably have to wait for it to orbit back around.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1410273055960571910

Excellent, so it can carry a payload. Then it can carry satellite killing weapons too...

:circlestars5:

You don't have a problem with the name "Tubular Bells"

Why is it odd? Someone is a new age music lover.

[link to en.wikipedia.org (secure)]

Sseess is a pretty typical snarky space denier.
Thread: You wanted footage of ISS under construction? It's happening today, live! (Page 2)
Don't pay them much mind. Actually the wiki article explains why it's named Tubular Bells. Yes, that's the name of a famous new age album, but more importantly one that was tied to the rise of Virgin as a company, and as a result, it's tied to the existence of Virgin Orbit.
""I never thought that the word 'tubular bells' was going to play such an important part in our lives ... Virgin going into space most likely wouldn't have existed if we hadn't hired that particular instrument."

— Richard Branson, 2013"
[link to en.wikipedia.org (secure)]

Last Edited by Astromut on 06/30/2021 02:05 PM

With a military payload they were using USSF and NASA sensors and communications, they should know right away. Maybe they want to make sure everything is norminal before blabbing to the press.

They're using the theme from the Exorcist?

Thanks Astro! That was cool.

The tubular bells album helped put virgin on the map. That later spun off virgin orbit.

satanic