LauncherOne

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/b ... launcher-1



WOW

Just a little bigger, and you can put people in space for cheap.

More like competition for Falcon 1e and Pegasus; I don't see anyone squeezing a person and a capsule and an abort system in 500 lbs. Also, F1e will cost 11 million vs. 10 million for this, but launch 2200 lbs, and Pegasus does 980 lbs although it may be more expensive. Still, it's always good to have another competitor in the market.

The video's pretty stupid by the way, with the whole changing world environment spiel that really doesn't have much to do with launching stuff into space. This whole thing is also not that different from Pegasus, so all the blabbering about innovation is more marketing-speak than substance. But then that's Branson for you .

Pegasus hasn't been built. The White Knight 2 has.

what are you talking about SuperShuki?

Pegasus has dozens of successful launches...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(rocket)

Oh, I meant the new project to launch a falcon rocket off an airplane, not pegasus. Forgive me, dear forum member.

Ah, well that would be Stratolaunch, but I guess they are not really focused on small satellites.

It will be really interesting to see how LauncherOne turns out from a business standpoint. Currently I doubt there is actually a large demand for such a capability.

Has there been any information on the timeframe until it will be in service?

Actually, I think that it will be a huge success. Just because no one is doing it, does not mean that there isn't demand. Remember, to launch a small satellite, any satellite, requires huge sums of money. With modern technology, there is a lot you can do with a small satellite. I think that they will make tons of money, but it may come with the problem of overcrowding Earth's orbits.