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Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne

Cosmic Girl, Virgin Orbit’s repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft.
Cosmic Girl, Virgin Orbit’s repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft. Photo: Ben Birchall (AP)

It didn’t take long for the first rocket failure of 2023. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket, after deploying from the company’s Cosmic Girl aircraft, failed to reach orbit during the January 9 mission, dubbed Start Me Up. All seven payloads on board were destroyed. The launch failure was later attributed to a filter that came loose in the engine and “caused mischief downstream,” explained Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart.

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