---
title: "Virgin Orbit Is Building a Fleet of Rocket-Launching Boeing 747s"
date: "2022-05-11"
modified: "2022-05-11"
authors:
  - name: "Victoria Scott"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/victoria-scott"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/virgin-orbit-is-building-a-fleet-of-rocket-launching-boeing-747s"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Aviation"
  - "Planes"
---

# Virgin Orbit Is Building a Fleet of Rocket-Launching Boeing 747s

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/10/Virgin-Orbit-88-2.jpg>)
*\<em\>Virgin Orbit\</em\>*

Aerospace, as an industry, is composed of both atmosphere-going planes and orbit-bound rockets, which thanks to the principles of flight have more overlap than most would expect. The two disciplines rarely gets *this* blurred, however, as Virgin Orbit has announced it's building a fleet of [Boeing 747s](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/nasas-boeing-747-based-flying-telescope-sofia-is-being-retired>) with rocket-carrying pods to get small satellites to orbit. The company previously had [one 747-400 (known as Cosmic Girl)](<https://www.twz.com/31545/air-force-to-conduct-its-first-space-launch-from-guam-next-year-using-a-747-jumbo-jet>) that has flown four missions, but the decision to customize more airframes was driven by a need to launch even more satellites, [according to *CNBC*](<https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/10/virgin-orbit-assembling-fleet-of-747-jets-to-launch-more-rockets-.html>).

The Virgin Orbit launch planes solve a variety of problems that plague the space industry: [spaceports are uncommon](<https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html>), expensive, and require massive amounts of infrastructure. Working from a single fixed location for launch can make getting a satellite to a certain orbital inclination very difficult, and launches can easily be delayed by bad weather. On top of all of this, they can be easily observed by anyone with access to a terrestrial-aimed photographic satellite, which is a problem for sensitive launches undertaken by spy agencies.

Virgin bypasses all of these issues by strapping a two-stage rocket to the wing of a 747 and launching the rocket off the plane itself mid-flight at around 35,000 feet, well above the clouds, and from nearly anywhere on Earth. In an interview with *CNBC*, Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said it best: “The ability to deploy two rockets and all the ground equipment in one airplane, fly somewhere, set it up, and all of a sudden you’ve got a launch base somewhere is pretty unique... it adds a certain level of unpredictability for the national security community \[and\] it’s better economics for spaceports.”

https://twitter.com/AirlineRetro/status/1325966956550184960?s=20&t=6ycBiWVRpZKSK1VTN99zQg

The planes Virgin uses, Boeing 747s, are a natural choice for rocket launches for a variety of reasons. They're [long-ranged](<https://modernairliners.com/boeing-747-jumbo/boeing-747-specs/>) with the ability to fly over 8,000 miles at a time, they have a staggering 875,000-pound maximum takeoff weight, and they can fly up to an [operational ceiling of 45,000 feet](<https://www.flugzeuginfo.net/acdata_php/acdata_7474_en.php>). Additionally, the 747 already had an extra mounting point built into its airframe from the factory, [with th](<https://simpleflying.com/qantas-747-5-engines>)[e original intent of carrying an extra (non-operational) engine](<https://simpleflying.com/qantas-747-5-engines>) as air cargo without needing to commission a separate flight, as seen in the vintage photo of the Korean Air Lines 747 above.

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/10/image.png>)
*Virgin Cosmic*

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/10/Virgin-Orbit-87-scaled.jpg>)
*Virgin Cosmic*

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/10/Cosmic_Girl_and_LauncherOne_on_the_way_out_to_Sea_50846763897_cropped.jpg>)
*Glenn Beltz*

*Final image of the rocket-carrying Cosmic Girl via [Glenn Beltz](<https://www.flickr.com/photos/n28307/50846763897/>), used under [CC-BY 2.0](<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/>)*

Virgin simply repurposed that carrying mount as a rocket-launching pod and developed a specialized two-stage rocket, [known as LauncherOne](<https://virginorbit.com/technology/>), specifically for 747-based launches. The company's existing 747-400 launch vehicle was a [former Virgin Atlantic passenger jet](<https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/stories/cosmic-girl-a-stepping-stone-to-space.html>) that was transferred to Virgin Orbit in 2015 and modified for launch duties, whereas the new planes will be obtained and modified by L3Harris Technologies, [a large defense contractor](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-m-a-defense-harris-l3-idUSKCN1MO0PV>). Virgin Orbit expects to have at least one of the two 747s in its hands next year. Given that the company already has [five more launches](<https://www.space.com/virgin-orbit-1st-orbital-launch-uk-summer-2022>) planned for this year and has had [one successful launch in 2022](<https://virginorbit.com/technology/>), that plane looks like it'll be leading quite a busy life.

*Got a tip or question for the author? Contact her directly*: *victoria.scott@thedrive.com*

## Author
Victoria Scott is a former staff writer for The Drive. She began in the automotive industry as a freelancer in early 2021, fresh out of a programming job at NASA Mission Control.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/vantimevictoria/>)  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/reimuracing>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/mikurubaeahina>)