posted 06-30-2021 08:31 AM               

Tubular Bells: Part One

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:

• 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.

Behind the Name Tubular Bells: Part One

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.

posted 06-30-2021 01:29 PM               

Virgin Orbit's Tubular Bells Mission Goes Off Without a Hitch

Virgin Orbit confirmed it successfully deployed into orbit all 7 customer satellites onboard its LauncherOne rocket during today's Tubular Bells: Part One mission.

Virgin Orbit's 747 carrier aircraft Cosmic Girl took off from Mojave Air and Space Port this morning at approximately 6:50 A.M. PDT/1:50 PM UTC and flew out to a launch site over the Pacific Ocean, about 50 miles south of the Channel Islands. After a smooth release from the aircraft, the LauncherOne rocket ignited and propelled itself towards space, ultimately deploying its payload into a precise target orbit approximately 500km above the Earth's surface.

LauncherOne carried a total of 7 satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for this rideshare mission: four R&D CubeSats for the US Department of Defense, two optical satellites for SatRevolution, and the Royal Netherlands Air Force's first military satellite.

"Two successful launches and two groups of happy customers in 5 months really speaks to our team's abilities. They're making air launch look easy — and I can tell you from experience that it's not," said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. "We can now proudly say that 17 satellites launched by our system are up in space exactly in their target orbits. We're looking forward to growing that number tremendously as we push to ramp up our flight cadence in the coming months."

"What an unforgettable experience to be here in Mojave to watch the Virgin Orbit team complete another perfect mission to space. Everything went exactly to plan and the fact that we dropped the rocket from our 747 at 7:47 AM PDT made it particularly fitting. Perfect timing!" said Virgin Orbit founder Richard Branson. "We had customers here from three countries and I congratulate all of them and all of our wonderful team."

Tubular Bells: Part One is named after the first track on Mike Oldfield's 1973 record Tubular Bells, the album that inspired Richard Branson to create Virgin Records and the first ever released by the label.