Virgin Orbit, Virgin Group's launch company, recently announced it would execute its first-ever orbital launch from the U.K. soon.
According to Virgin Group's post, the company agreed with European in-space manufacturing tech start-up, Space Forge, to launch the first satellite developed in Wales later this year.
The post also mentioned that the satellite is part of a broader joint U.K.-U.S. mission to open the U.K.'s first domestic spaceport out of Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay, Cornwall.
Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said that the company is delighted Space Forge chose it to help them move towards their goal. He also added that Space Forge is joining a "growing community of space innovators advancing space technologies for the betterment of our world."
Details on Space Forge's Satellite and Goal
Space Forge wants to use microgravity, vacuum, and temperature to "unlock the next steps on the path to market expansion," manufacturing products that are impossible to create on Earth. These materials and products are said to offer "game-changing levels of performance and efficiency in power-hungry infrastructure and systems" that would reduce the environmental impact of production on Earth. These materials and products will also catalyze to unlock new value and innovation.
The company claims that manufacturing certain materials in space could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 75 percent.
As such, Space Forge and its partners created the satellite in question, named "ForgeStar."
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The ForgeStar is a new small-class vehicle deployed from conventional launchers to provide "rapid, reliable and reusable in-space infrastructure." It will also have the ability to return to Earth with the manufactured products.
Should ForgeStar's return be proven reliable, Space Forge will have the means to achieve its goal. As such, Virgin Orbit's mission will allow Space Forge to test the new return-from-space technology.
Space Forge CEO Joshua Western said that the people in Space Forge are thrilled to make history with its first launch. He also added that they will demonstrate "the use of space for good through in-space manufacturing and reliable return."
Details on the Launch
Virgin Orbit's first launch in the U.K. is scheduled in the summer of 2022 at Spaceport Cornwall, in Newquay, Cornwall, per Insider Media Limited.
A Space.com article mentioned that Virgin Orbit conducts launches using a modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft named "Cosmic Girl."
The airplane carries a rocket called LauncherOne underneath it to deploy satellites into space.
Virgin orbit claims that using the LauncherOne, which can launch 1,100 pounds per mission at most, has an advantage over traditional vertically launched rockets, such as NASA's and SpaceX's rockets. This supposed advantage is due to air-launched missions being more responsive and flexible than rockets launched from the ground.
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