Virgin Orbit will carry 10 cubesats on its LauncherOne Demo 2 flight this month

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By Doris Elin Urrutia
published

The launch window for Virgin Orbit's Demo 2 mission will run from Dec. 19 to 20.

The patch logo for Virgin Orbit's Demo 2 test mission.
The patch logo for Virgin Orbit's Demo 2 test mission. (Image credit: Virgin Orbit/Twitter)

Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket will perform in its second demonstration flight later this year, according to a company announcement. 

Virgin Orbit is designed to deliver about 1,100 lbs. (500 kilograms) of small-satellite payloads into low Earth orbit using an air-launch strategy. During operational flights, a modified Boeing 747 carrier plane carries LauncherOne up to an altitude of 35,000 feet (10,700 meters); the rocket then travels on its own into space. Virgin Orbit is part of billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group. 

The launch window for the Demo 2 mission will run from Dec. 19 to 20, "with further opportunities available in the following weeks, if needed," company officials shared in a Nov. 30 statement. 

Related: Virgin Orbit designs new ventilator as part of Virgin Group's efforts to combat coronavirus

The company launched its Demo 1 test flight mission on May 25 from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, but terminated the mission shortly after the 70-foot-long (21 m) LauncherOne separated from under the wing of its carrier plane, Cosmic Girl. Mission failure was caused by an anomaly of LauncherOne's NewtonThree engine, the company said. 

Virgin Orbit did not carry any operational payloads during Demo 1, but the upcoming Demo 2 flight will aim to carry ten small cubesats into space. 

Virgin Orbit's carrier plane, Cosmic Girl, hauls the company's LauncherOne rocket aloft on the Launch Demo mission on May 25, 2020. LauncherOne did not reach orbit on the flight.

Virgin Orbit's carrier plane, Cosmic Girl, hauls the company's LauncherOne rocket aloft on the Launch Demo mission on May 25, 2020. LauncherOne did not reach orbit on the flight. (Image credit: Virgin Orbit via Twitter)

Hitching a ride on LauncherOne's Demo 2 flight are: the space-debris tackling CACTUS-1; the educational missions CAPE-3 and MiTEE; the exosphere-studying EXOCUBE-3; a satellite duo called PICS; a small radiometer called PolarCube; a mission facilitating microgravity experiments called Q-PACE; the space radiation-observing RadFXSat-2; and a technology demonstration mission called TechEdSat-7. 

The deployment of these cubesats is part of Virgin Orbit's collaboration with NASA's Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) and the space agency's Launch Service Program (NASA LSP). 

Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

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Doris Elin Urrutia
Doris Elin Urrutia
Contributing Writer

Doris is a science journalist and Space.com contributor. She received a B.A. in Sociology and Communications at Fordham University in New York City. Her first work was published in collaboration with London Mining Network, where her love of science writing was born. Her passion for astronomy started as a kid when she helped her sister build a model solar system in the Bronx. She got her first shot at astronomy writing as a Space.com editorial intern and continues to write about all things cosmic for the website. Doris has also written about microscopic plant life for Scientific American’s website and about whale calls for their print magazine. She has also written about ancient humans for Inverse, with stories ranging from how to recreate Pompeii’s cuisine to how to map the Polynesian expansion through genomics. She currently shares her home with two rabbits. Follow her on twitter at @salazar_elin.