Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit rocket plane project has signed a contract with European in-space manufacturing tech start-up Space Forge to launch a Welsh-built small satellite from Cornwall. The satellite will be launched as part of a broader joint UK-US mission to open the country’s first domestic space port in summer 2022 out of Spaceport […]
An Omani scientific satellite will be carried and launched from Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket when it makes its first launch from Cornwall in the UK later this year. The Omani payload, developed by Earth observation specialist Poland-based SatRevolution, will be put into low Earth orbit to collect climate data. The mission is the follow-on to […]
Sir Richard Branson-backed Virgin Orbit has taken a 17.5 per cent stake in Earth Observation image company Hypersat, as well as investing in a funding round for Poland-based SatRevolution. Hypersat is already a client of Virgin Orbit and used Virgin’s rocket plane to launch 6 of its Hyperspectral satellites. Poland’s SatRevolution is busy raising cash […]
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) has reserved 20 Virgin Orbit flights aboard the company’s LauncherOne rocket-plane. An earlier MoU established the relationship between the two. The updated MoU, signed on November 4th, and initialled by Virgin Orbit’s CEO Dan Hart and ANA’s EVP Koji Shibata, has one special condition: the flights must happen from Japan […]
Virgin Orbit (and not Virgin Galactic, which has problems with the US FAA over flight safety) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding and collaboration with Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). The agreement sees Virgin Orbit and SwRI exploring multiple specialized mission opportunities using the company’s LauncherOne rocket system and “coupled with SwRI’s deep expertise in space […]
Following the announcement of its merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) in the form of NextGen Acquisition Corp, Virgin Orbit now says it wants its own in-orbit satellite system. Backed by Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Orbit wants to transition from launching small satellites to building its own satellite constellation for Internet-of-Things (IoT) and […]
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit satellite launch system (and not to be confused with his Virgin Galactic passenger tourism venture) is set to go public with a NASDAQ quote. The company says its revenues will grow 100-fold by 2025 to $1.55 billion. Virgin Orbit has merged with one of the increasingly fashionable Special Purpose Acquisitions […]
Following on from the success of launching himself and three passengers into space last week, Sir Richard Branson’s sister business Virgin Orbit will start launching and deploying a greater number of satellites in 2022. Virgin Orbit’s VP/Flight & Launch Activities, Tyler Grinnell, newly appointed to the position after a dozen years at SpaceX, told Fox […]
Sir Richard Branson managed to handle a reverse take-over of his Virgin Galactic space tourism business by a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) and a stock market listing in October 2019. Now he is reportedly trying a similar scheme with Virgin Orbit. Branson is looking for another SPAC, this time targeting NextGeneration Acquisition II, which […]
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit company has reportedly hired bankers in preparation for an Initial Public Offering. Virgin Orbit will use a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) as its first step on the road to public participation and the overall aim is for a valuation of some $2.5-$3 billion, according to The WSJ. Virgin Orbit uses […]