Brenda Marie Rivers
Virgin Orbit plans to conduct the second flight of its LauncherOne small rocket in late December as part of a mission to send NASA cube satellites to orbit, SpaceNews reported Friday.
A U.S. Coast Guard notice obtained by the publication states that Virgin Orbit will perform “hazardous operations†off San Nicolas Island in California between Dec. 18 to 21. The four-hour launch window is scheduled to open at 1 p.m. Eastern time, according to the notice.
Virgin Orbit first announced in August that LauncherOne will carry 10 satellites built through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative as part of the Launch Demo 2 mission.
The recent announcement comes weeks after Virgin Orbit delivered the rocket to Mojave Air and Space Port for the upcoming mission.
In September, Virgin Orbit’s VOX Space business simulated LauncherOne operations as part of the U.S. Air Force’s second field assessment for the Advanced Battle Management System.
