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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
“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.