Virgin Orbit's "flying launchpad" completes first captive carry flight

Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl took to the skies over Southern California on November 18, 2018 carrying a 70-ft-long (21-m) rocket for the first time. The specially modified 747-400 "flying launchpad" with the LauncherOne small-satellite booster under its port wing took off from Victorville, California on an 80-minute test flight designed to assess the take-off, landing, and low-speed handling and performance of the integrated aircraft and carbon-fiber two-stage rocket.

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Category: Aircraft

Tags:

• Flight
• Test Flights
• Virgin Orbit

from New Atlas (Gizmag) https://ift.tt/2Tro13Z