a Disclaimer missiles allowed the us firm Virgin Orbit to its launch on Board the huge aircraft. The sympathy already expressed by Elon Musk, who knows firsthand about the difficulties in space exploration.
Setback to the attempt to launch a space rocket by means of the aircraft, which on the eve has taken the Orbit of Virgin billionaire Richard Branson.
The first pancake was lumpy — due to a technical malfunction, the rocket failed to launch and go into orbit.
This experiment was supposed to be the culmination of a seven-year project to develop and test new space system, able to launch into space the small rockets.
The plane LauncherOne, a modified version of the ex-passenger Boeing 747, suspended under the wing of a LauncherOne rocket rose into the air from the airfield in the Mojave desert, the separation of the rocket occurred over the Pacific ocean. However, according to the company Twitter, the mission soon had to interrupt, about the fate of the missiles is not reported.
“LauncherOne stability after separation, and we launched our first step NewtonThree — wrote Virgin Orbit in the social network. But at the beginning of the third stage occurred an anomaly. We’ll know more as soon as our engineers will analyse a large amount of data that we got today.”
As told the Vice-President for special projects William Pomerantz, the separation of the rocket occurred on-staff and was controllable. Starting the engine also took place in the right time, which presents a significant challenge for start liquid rocket in the air.
“It’s the biggest technical risk in the program,” he explained.
It is known that after the start the engine ran for a few seconds, after which there was a waiver, which the company called anomaly.
Until the engineers figure out whether we are talking about the failure of the software, hardware, or something else. “We have some reasons for optimism on the basis of the first received data”.
After an unsuccessful attempt by the crew of the plane and the auxiliary plane returned safely to base. The company said that the engineers have received a sufficient amount of data that will be used to prepare for the next flight.
Their support already expressed by the billionaire Elon Musk, the rocket of which 27 may first be sent to the ISS, American astronauts.
“Sorry to hear about it. Orbit is difficult. The rocket, Falcon 1, took four attempts,” he wrote on Twitter.
“We appreciate that, Elon. We admire those who managed to get,” — said in the company.
His admiration was expressed by the entrepreneur Peter Beck, whose American private company Rocket Lab recently found its niche in the market launch of light satellites from the spaceport in ��novel Zealand.
“the Launch is super-complicated, the team should be proud of today’s effort. Glad the crew made it home safe,” he wrote on Twitter.
Initially, the first test of the system was scheduled for Sunday, when the window for launch opened at 19.00 GMT. However, the first start was postponed for a day due to a malfunction of the sensor.
Rocket LauncherOne, a two — stage carrier, use fuel RP-1 and liquid oxygen as oxidizer. Virgin Orbit — one of the many private companies offering their innovative ways of launching payloads into orbit. Today, it employs five hundred employees.
If the proposed start-up scheme justify itself, the company intends to send into orbit satellites weighing up to 300 kg at a price of $12 million.
To achieve such indicators of the company, however, you need to make 10-12 starts a year, says Eric Berger, browser edition Ars Technica.
Asked on the eve of the financial condition of the company, Executive Director Dan HART answered evasively, saying that the firm is concentrated on the first run. According to him, the company has a backlog of contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, her services are also interested in the us military who need a reliable and quick launches of satellites into orbit with any inclination.
