Virgin Orbit signs deal to launch from Brazil
Capitalism in space: Virgin Orbit yesterday announced that it has signed an agreement with the Brazil Space Agency (AEB) to establish facilities and conduct launches from that nation’s long unused Alcântara spaceport.
The license is granted to Virgin Orbit Brasil Ltda. (VOBRA), a newly formed and wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary dedicated to bringing the LauncherOne air-launch rocket system to the Alcântara Launch Center (Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara, CLA).
The formation of the VOBRA entity for dedicated Brazilian space activities is designed to bring an important new capability to the country and economic value to the region. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system, which uses a customized 747 aircraft, Cosmic Girl, as its flying and fully reusable launch pad, will conduct launches from the existing airbase at the Brazilian site, flying hundreds of miles before releasing the rocket directly above the equator — a global sweet spot — or at other optimal locations identified for each individual mission.
Being able to launch smallsats from the equator gives Virgin Orbit the ability to place those satellites in any orbit around the Earth for far less fuel, an advantage not available to spaceports at higher latitudes.
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Capitalism in space: Virgin Orbit yesterday announced that it has signed an agreement with the Brazil Space Agency (AEB) to establish facilities and conduct launches from that nation’s long unused Alcântara spaceport.
The license is granted to Virgin Orbit Brasil Ltda. (VOBRA), a newly formed and wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary dedicated to bringing the LauncherOne air-launch rocket system to the Alcântara Launch Center (Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara, CLA).
The formation of the VOBRA entity for dedicated Brazilian space activities is designed to bring an important new capability to the country and economic value to the region. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system, which uses a customized 747 aircraft, Cosmic Girl, as its flying and fully reusable launch pad, will conduct launches from the existing airbase at the Brazilian site, flying hundreds of miles before releasing the rocket directly above the equator — a global sweet spot — or at other optimal locations identified for each individual mission.
Being able to launch smallsats from the equator gives Virgin Orbit the ability to place those satellites in any orbit around the Earth for far less fuel, an advantage not available to spaceports at higher latitudes.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
“Brazil is the country of the future… and always will be,” observed Charles de Gaulle about Latin America’s largest economy. That statement epitomizes the Economic & Political Roller Coaster that is Brazil.
I am rooting for Brazil and I hope that it has a successful future in Space.
Robert wrote: “Being able to launch smallsats from the equator gives Virgin Orbit the ability to place those satellites in any orbit around the Earth for far less fuel, an advantage not available to spaceports at higher latitudes.”
This is a common misconception. The ideal launch point for any orbital inclination is the latitude that corresponds to that inclination. KSC is ideal for launching into a 28.5˚ inclination orbit. The “throw” at the equator begins to be offset by the need to spend propellant to go northward. Eventually, a 90˚ polar orbit would have to counter the speed of the equatorial “throw” that had seemed to be an advantage.
If I were only allowed one launch site on Earth, then I would choose the equator, because the difference is not terribly great, only a delta-v of around 300 miles per hour more from the equator to a 60˚ orbit than launching from 60˚ latitude (less than 2% difference), but there is definitely an advantage to launching from the right latitude. However, it is better to distribute them similar to how we have them now: Equator (e.g. Kourou, French Guiana, KSC, and Russia’s northern (almost 60˚) sites. Farther from the equator gives nice entry points to sun synchronous orbits, which are slightly retrograde (greater than 90˚), which is why these orbits are the focus of discussion for the New Zealand site, the Scottish sites, and the Alaskan site. The Equator is nice, as many payloads in the past have been destined for geostationary orbit, directly above the equator, giving an advantage to Arianespace and its Ariane rocket family.
Virgin Orbit’s advantage is that it can fly to any (or almost any) latitude so that its airplane-launched rocket can launch from the most advantageous place. This is an advantage not available to fixed-location spaceports.
On the other hand, launching from a higher latitude to a geostationary orbit can be very costly in delta-v, as an orbital plane change is needed. That delta-v can be a couple of thousand miles per hour, whereas an equatorial launch requires no plane change and no delta-v propellant expenditure.
To paraphrase Sir Walter Scott(?): Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice orbital mechanics.
Original Mark is correct, there is nothing to stop South American countries from having strong economies. A century ago, Argentina was in competition with America for economic dominance in the Western Hemisphere. Then Argentina elected a dictator, and that competition was over.
Oh, wait! I’m wrong. There is something that can stop Western Hemisphere countries from having strong economies.
Edward: Per discussion of launch points; thanks!
Unless this Virginal Orbit outfit snags some Brazilian military satellite launches, this will be a non-starter. There are already far cheaper launch alternatives for commercial smallsats, and only military applications require the kind of dedicated capability this expensive, outdated airlaunch system provides.