Christine Thropp
Virgin Orbit has completed the Federal Aviation Administration’s final environmental assessment that found that licensing the company’s LauncherOne rocket operations from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam “would not significantly affect” the environment quality.
According to the Aug. 27 notice, the proposed action from the agency is to provide Virgin Orbit with a launch operator’s license that will allow it to conduct launches using the Boeing 747-400 carrier aircraft and LauncherOne rocket from the AFB.
Virgin Orbit wants to perform a maximum of 25 launches from 2021 to 2025 to send small satellites into the low earth orbit. The limit per year over the said duration is 10 launches.
The FAA did not guarantee the issuance of launch license even after Virgin Orbit’s completion of the environmental review process.
“The company must also meet FAA safety, risk and financial responsibility requirements,” the agency notes in its Finding of No Significant Impact release.
