'Above the Clouds' Mission Prepped by Virgin Orbit

The rocket for Virgin Orbit's 'Above the Clouds' mission has been transported to the Mojave Air and Space Port and mated to the customized 747 that serves as the company's flying launch pad, mobile mission control, and fully reusable first stage all at once.

The 'Above the Clouds' mission will carry multiple payloads into Low Earth Orbit. The U.S. Department of Defense is launching several Research and Development (R&D) satellites from multiple government agencies that are experiments in space-based communications and in-space navigation. The mission will also carry a university payload sponsored by NASA. This launch, also known as STP-27VPB, was awarded to Virgin Orbit’s subsidiary VOX Space by the DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) as part of the DoD Space Test Program’s (STP) Rapid Agile Launch (RALI) Initiative. DIU is an organization working to accelerate the adoption of commercial technology into the U.S. military to strengthen national security.

The Polish company SatRevolution is launching two nanosatellites: STORK-3 and SteamSat-2. STORK-3 join the STORK-4 and STORK-5 Marta satellites placed in orbit on our June 2021 mission as part of the SatRevolution’s Earth-observation capabilities, with a focus on serving customers in the agricultural sector to take medium-resolution photos. SteamSat-2 is a technology demonstrated for SteamJet Space System (UK)’s innovative water-fueled thrusters for in-space propulsion.

The mission is currently planned for later this year.

The mission name Above the Clouds pays homage to hip hop artist Gang Starr’s album, Moment of Truth. Released on March 31, 1998, by Virgin Records in collaboration with Noo Trybe Records, Moment of Truth is widely regarded as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. The song titled Above the Clouds, featuring Inspectah Deck of Wu-Tang Clan, appears as the fifth track.

(Images provided with Virgin Orbit news release)