Spirit of Mojave
747 mothership for air launch hypersonic vehicle testbed / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Spirit of Mojave, previously Cosmic Girl is a Boeing 747-400 aircraft. A former passenger airliner operated by Virgin Atlantic, it was purchased by Virgin Galactic in 2015 to be used as the first stage launch platform (or mothership launch pad) for the air launch stage of the smallsat orbital launch vehicle, the LauncherOne. In 2017, the aircraft was transferred to the orbital launch subsidiary, Virgin Orbit, and its livery updated to Virgin Orbit. LauncherOne attempted its first launch on 25 May 2020; the launch was a failure. The first successful launch (second launch in total) took place on 17 January 2021.
Spirit of Mojave | |
---|---|
Virgin Orbit 747 Cosmic Girl (currently named, Spirit of Mojave) at Long Beach Airport | |
Other name(s) | |
Type | Boeing 747-41R 44/32/310[2][3][4] |
Manufacturer | Boeing |
Construction number | 32745[3][4] |
Manufactured | 2001[2] |
Registration | |
First flight | 29 September 2001[3] |
Owners and operators |
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In service | |
Status | Expected to be refit to launch Stratolaunch's Talon. |
Aircraft carried | LauncherOne orbital rocket |
Its parent, Virgin Orbit, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 4, 2023. It was subsequently sold at auction to Stratolaunch to complement their existing Roc launch platform for their Talon Hypersonic testbed vehicle.[8] It is renamed as "Spirit of Mojave".[1]