Single achievement

Virgin Orbit Launcher One

This is a virtual airline achievement created by FireFly Air.

Recreate the launch run of the 747 which brought out Virgin Obit's Laucher One rocket.

Route

Virgin Orbit’s first launch from the United Kingdom failed to reach orbit Jan. 9, dealing a high-profile setback to a company that has been struggling financially.

Virgin Orbit’s Boeing 747 aircraft took off from Spaceport Cornwall in southwestern England at about 5:02 p.m. Eastern on the company’s “Start Me Up” mission, the sixth LauncherOne mission for the company but the first to fly from a location other than Mojave Air and Space Port.

The aircraft flew to its designated drop location over the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Ireland and released the LauncherOne rocket at approximately 6:11 p.m. Eastern. While telemetry during the live webcast of the launch was unreliable, reporting what appeared to be spurious speed and altitude figures at times, the company reported seven minutes later that the rocket’s upper stage and payloads had reached orbit.

“LauncherOne has once again successfully reached Earth orbit!” the company announced in a tweet it later deleted. “Our mission isn’t over yet, but our congratulations to the people of the UK! This is already the first-ever orbital mission from British soil – an enormous achievement by @spacegovuk and their partners in government!”

The launch then appeared to be in a coast phase before a second burn of the upper stage’s NewtonFour engine, followed by payload deployment. But nearly a half-hour after the announcement of reaching orbit, the company suddenly revealed the launch had instead failed.

“We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information,” the company announced. The company provided no other information about the anomaly, including at what state of flight it took place and why the company incorrectly reported reaching orbit. It did confirm that that the Boeing 747 had landed safely back at Spaceport Cornwall.

In a statement early Jan. 10, Virgin Orbit said the anomaly took place during the flight of the second stage of the rocket when traveling at 17,700 kilometers per hour, less than two-thirds of orbital velocity, but offered no other details about the problem.

Created by 6-KNOTS

Criteria

Depart from EGHQ, fly to and land at EGHQ (-1 NM), your flight distance must be further than 200 NM.

You must use one of the following aircraft:
  • Boeing 747-8 (B748)

Before attempting to fly this achievement (with one of the above aircraft) you must ensure that your aircraft is properly designated in FsHub or you may risk not completing the achievement.

You will be awarded XP 150 for completing this achievement.

Date Departure Arrival Pilot Aircraft Landing rate Distance Flight time
28SEP23 2016Z EGHQ EGHQ Restoring 226 Boeing 747-8 (B748) -934 ft/m 250 nm 03:33 View
30JUL23 0013Z EGHQ EGHQ MDA009 Boeing 747-8 (B748) -441 ft/m 577 nm 01:27 View
14FEB23 0451Z EGHQ EGHQ Fallenup89 Boeing 747-8 (B748) -384 ft/m 341 nm 00:54 View
05FEB23 1155Z EGHQ EGHQ Devildude1 Boeing 747-8 (B748) -283 ft/m 345 nm 00:47 View
21JAN23 1954Z EGHQ EGHQ NightHawk1867 Boeing 747-8 (B748) -565 ft/m 828 nm 02:07 View
19JAN23 0552Z EGHQ EGHQ Pappa_Razzi Boeing 747-8 (B748) -471 ft/m 251 nm 00:53 View
18JAN23 2012Z EGHQ EGHQ Shaun Dale Boeing 747-8 (B748) -511 ft/m 965 nm 02:01 View
16JAN23 2010Z EGHQ EGHQ Meowchi Boeing 747-8 (B748) -98 ft/m 241 nm 00:57 View
16JAN23 1446Z EGHQ EGHQ DadInCommand Boeing 747-8 (B748) -448 ft/m 256 nm 00:37 View
16JAN23 0034Z EGHQ EGHQ Viperstrike95 Boeing 747-8 (B748) -741 ft/m 230 nm 00:37 View
15JAN23 0920Z EGHQ EGHQ Ironbird Boeing 747-8 (B748) -413 ft/m 288 nm 00:51 View
15JAN23 0107Z EGHQ EGHQ Quasar Core Boeing 747-8 (B748) -208 ft/m 923 nm 02:27 View
14JAN23 1625Z EGHQ EGHQ 6 Knots (Ciaran) Boeing 747-8 (B748) -553 ft/m 337 nm 00:53 View