Will Launch More Than A Dozen Satellites On LauncherOne

NASA has awarded commercial spaceline Virgin Galactic a $4.7 million contract for the launch of more than a dozen cutting-edge experimental satellites. The satellites, which will be selected and provided by NASA, will fly on a test flight of Virgin Galactic’s dedicated small satellite launch vehicle, LauncherOne.

NASA’s order, which comes through the agency’s Venture Class Launch Services program, represents a tangible sign of the space leader’s increasing embrace of small satellites as an important means for conducting research and development. Previously, NASA purchased a suborbital flight for a dozen experiments aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo—meaning NASA is now a customer of both of Virgin Galactic’s privately-funded space vehicles.

“When paired with affordable and responsive launch vehicles like LauncherOne, small satellites create big opportunities for business and for science," said Virgin Galactic president Steve Isakowitz. "We’re designing LauncherOne to offer market-leading pricing and flexibility to help our customers make the most of their missions, and we are excited to work with NASA to help our nation’s scientists and researchers get their satellites into space.”

LauncherOne is designed to provide affordable, reliable, and responsive orbital launches for small satellites. As an air-launched system, LauncherOne can optimize each mission to customer requirements by operating from a variety of launch sites. Virgin Galactic has full, private funding in place for the program, which includes a dedicated and world-class team of 150 experienced aerospace professionals working from a state-of-the-art 150,000 square foot manufacturing and design facility in Long Beach, California.

At NASA’s announcement event, Virgin Galactic also showed video from a recent 90-second hotfiring of LauncherOne’s NewtonThree main rocket engine. The successful test, conducted last week, marked the latest technical success in a program of hardware and component testing that began several years ago.

(LauncherOne image from file)

FMI: www.virgingalactic.com