New "Horizontal Launches" Set to Shake the Space Industry
In years to come, all space agencies may be launching satellites from planes in midair
For decades, the mental image Americans have associated with the space program has been of an upright rocket shooting brilliantly off into space, leaving a dramatic trail behind. In fact, vertical launches may seem to the average person like the only way to do it- the obvious way to transport payloads to space. But Virgin Orbit, a small satellite-launching program located in Long Beach, California, has imagined a totally new way to launch cargo into orbit. This company created a plane by the name of Cosmic Girl with the ability to launch a satellite from mid-flight, taking the satellite as close to the edge of Earth's atmosphere as possible before launch. Utilizing their technology in a different style than they ever have before, the plan is to keep a satellite capsule under the wing of the plane, launching the satellite from midair.
Virgin Orbit was founded in 2017 and has become a necessary part of important space agencies such as NASA, helping them to launch satellites. Recently, they’ve signed an agreement to work with the Cornwall Spaceport in the UK to deliver the UK’s first horizontal Spaceport by 2021. This new spaceport will help to realize the dream of launching space-bound payloads such as satellites horizontally from planes. From there on, Virgin Orbit will be working with other agencies, such as the Japanese space agency JAXA, on this mission. The plan with JAXA is to house a horizontal launchpad in Oita, Japan, allowing this new style of satellite launching to spread across the globe.
This new style of space launches isn't just a flashy trick; when planes deliver rockets to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere, they cut out the energy-consuming work that it takes to launch rockets up from the ground. This can make a huge difference for spacecraft design because engineers don't have to include as much fuel, meaning that they have more freedom in designing the actual payload- the satellite. Research has shown that horizontal launches are the most effective way to put a smaller satellite up into low-orbit.
Another big advantage of horizontal launch is that Cosmic Girl, the Boeing 747 that is being used for these missions, will launch the rocket from wherever the conditions are best. This means that while in midst of a flight with the LauncherOne rocket, the crew can simply scratch a certain point off of their map due to weather, point to a new one, and immediately adjust their launch point. Not much time is wasted before they’re able to get the mission back on track once again. On the other hand, vertical launches don’t have much mobility. If there’s bad weather on the day of a vertical launch, astronauts, engineers, and spectators just have to wait until it passes- and that can take a while.
Of course, it's an engineer's dream to cut out costly weight in fuel, and the bad-weather immunity of horizontal launches are a big advantage. But this technology is still in its infancy, and there are some risks involved.
Flying into near-orbit can present some dangers, and of course these special rocket-carrying planes need pilots to deliver the payload to the edge of space. Having a rocket under one wing of the plane can also offset the balance of it. The fully fueled LauncherOne weighs 50,000 pounds! So, adding that to the left wing of the aircraft requires pilot Kelly Latimer to balance everything out with a bit of maneuvering. Nevertheless, the many positive outcomes to this new method of space exploration seem to outweigh those risks.
Although the first test flight of Cosmic Girl has been flown with LauncherOne attached, they are currently still flying with an empty rocket. Soon, however, it will be filled with water in order to create a reasonable test run for when the LauncherOne is fully fueled for its mission to outer space. LauncherOne's mission could begin as soon as this year, and it's safe to say that horizontal launches will drastically impact the future of space exploration with the limitless possibilities they will open up. This new style of launching will have a huge impact on the space industry, making launches more effective and less costly. Needless to say, astronauts and engineers await the day that Virgin Orbit uses Cosmic Girl to launch the space industry in a new direction.
This is Landon’s second year at Edgewood and first year writing for the magazine. She enjoys spending her time reading, playing volleyball, or listening to music. As a staff writer this year, she is hoping to see and better understand the way the a magazine is made.