Virgin Orbit launches rocket off a 747 aircraft, puts nine satellites in space

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This marks the first successful launch for the California-based rocket startup Virgin Orbit

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Austin, Texas A 70-foot rocket, riding beneath the wing of a retrofitted Boeing 747 aircraft, detached from the plane and fired itself into Earth's orbit on Sunday — marking the first successful launch for the California-based rocket startup Virgin Orbit.

Virgin Orbit's 747, nicknamed Cosmic Girl, took off from California around 10:30 am PT with the rocket, called LauncherOne, nestled beneath the plane's left wing. The aircraft flew out over the Pacific Ocean before the rocket was released, freeing LauncherOne and allowing it to power up its rocket motor and propel itself to more than 17,000 miles per hour, fast enough to begin orbiting the Earth.

— Virgin Orbit January 17, 2021 The successful mission makes Virgin Orbit only the third so-called"New Space" company — startups hoping to overhaul the traditional industry with innovative technologies — to reach orbit, after SpaceX and Rocket Lab. The success also paves the way for Virgin Orbit to begin launching satellites for a host of customers that it already has lined up, including NASA, the military and private-sector companies that use satellites for commercial purposes.

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No what that tells me is the military can fire rockets from commercial aircraft. So they can't be traced back. Or chemical warfare

How about someone launching off some Healthcare and starting up some human decency?

HEY CNN, I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU: THE MODERATES ARE NOT GOING AWAY.... WE'RE RIGHT HERE......

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Now it's not Virgin anymore

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