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[b]Tubular Bells: Part One[/b] Following the team's successful orbital launch demonstration in January 2021, Tubular Bells: Part One marks the next step in Virgin Orbit's commercial service. Virgin Orbit's air-launch technology is revolutionizing how we think about and conduct launches to space, offering more flexibility, agility and responsiveness than any traditional ground-based launch system. Our LauncherOne system enables easier access to space for a variety of small satellite makers and operators — including both government and commercial customers alike. That broad appeal is exemplified in the flight manifest for this mission, which includes three different customers from three different countries: [list][*]The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is launching four CubeSats as part of the DoD Space Test Program's (STP) Rapid Agile Launch Initiative (RALI). This launch, also known as STP-27VPA, was awarded to Virgin Orbit subsidiary VOX Space by the DoD's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), an organization working to accelerate the adoption of commercial technology into the U.S. military in support of increased national security. [*]The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) is launching the Netherlands' first military satellite, a CubeSat called BRIK II, built and integrated by Innovative Solutions in Space. [*]Polish satellite company SatRevolution is launching the first two optical satellites, STORK-4 and STORK-5 (A.K.A. MARTA), of the company's 14-satellite STORK constellation.[/list] [b]Behind the Name Tubular Bells: Part One[/b] In 1973, Richard Branson, then a young entrepreneur and record shop owner, met a new musician who had made a demo tape unlike anything else on the airwaves. Moved by the music, Richard decided to help that musician, Mike Oldfield, get the record made. The pair played the demo for every record label they could, but no one was willing to take a chance on a record that sounded so different from the big, overproduced rock-and-roll that dominated the charts. With no one else willing to do the job, Richard decided he would simply create his own record label to help Oldfield make and release the album. And thus, Virgin Records was born. The album, Tubular Bells, went on to become a smash international hit, topping the charts for months, wining major awards, and going into the record books one of the top sellers of the decade. The first track on the first side of the first album from the first band ever signed to Virgin Records. What could be more appropriate than to tip our hat to that creative work and those bold decisions? Like Tubular Bells, our customers are doing something a little out of the ordinary for our space industry — and we so love their work that we've created a whole new way to launch that is tailored just for them.
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