Cosmic Girl Exceeds 110 Knots With Rocket In Place

Virgin Orbit has completed its first high-speed taxi test with a LauncherOne rocket installed under the wing of "Cosmic Girl", the company's modified Boeing 747.

Forbes reports that Richard Branson announced the milestone on Twitter and Facebook. "Zoom, zoom, zoom, LauncherOne was on the move again – this time for our very first high-speed taxi test. With chief pilot Kelly Latimer at the helm, Cosmic Girl cruised down the runway at Victorville Airport this weekend with a rocket under her wing. Not only did we ramp all the way up to more than 110 knots, we also used the day as an opportunity to load real flight software onto Launcher One for the first time," Virgin Galactic Tweeted.

Cosmic Girl has been modified to carry the 52-foot-long LauncherOne to an altitude of 35,000 feet, where it will separate from the aircraft and carry payloads up to the size of a refrigerator into orbit.

In October, Virgin Orbit mated a LauncherOne rocket to Cosmic Girl for the first time.

The company says Cosmic Girl is the first 747 in history that has been converted to launch rockets. This means it can fly thousands of miles in any direction at 24 hours’ notice to deliver to the right orbit. Currently, clients have to wait between 18 and 24 months for manufacturing and a ground launch, the company said in October.

(Image from Virgin Orbit video posted to Facebook)

FMI: virginorbit.com