Virgin Galactic will use a Boeing 747 to launch satellites into space

Virgin Galactic introduces the newest addition to its fleet of vehicles as part of a technical update on its LauncherOne small satellite launch service. The 747-400 commercial jet aircraft, previously operated by Virgin Atlantic under the nickname ‘Cosmic Girl,’ will provide a dedicated launch platform for the LauncherOne orbital vehicle.

LauncherOne works differently from the rockets used by other companies like SpaceX or Blue Origin. Instead of taking off from solid ground, the satellite launcher is released mid-flight, greatly reducing the amount of fuel necessary to get small payloads into orbit. But up until today, Virgin Galactic’s plans for LauncherOne always included it being taken to those high altitudes by WhiteKnightTwo, the massive plane that the company plans to one day use to carry its space tourism ship (SpaceShipTwo) into the stratosphere.

Update

Cosmic Girl did the job, and then some.

Operated by Virgin Orbit — spun out of Virgin Galactic — the 747-400 carried LauncherOne on a pylon under its left wing and released it at around 35,000 ft.

• 25 May 2020 — first launch attempt; failed to reach orbit.
• 17 January 2021 — first success, delivering 10 CubeSats to low Earth orbit. Air-launch to orbit had been achieved from a 747.
• Four further successful orbital launches followed, through July 2022.
• 9 January 2023 — the final launch failed. It was notable anyway as the first orbital launch attempt from UK soil.

Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 4 April 2023. Cosmic Girl was sold at auction to Stratolaunch, renamed Spirit of Mojave, and is being converted again — this time as a launch platform for the Talon hypersonic testbed.

So the aircraft is on its third career: Virgin Atlantic airliner, satellite launcher, and now hypersonic testbed carrier. That kind of afterlife is a recurring 747 story — see the special-mission aircraft, almost all of which were converted airliners.