Virgin Orbit is the newest member of the Virgin Family, and are currently testing the final stages and preparation of LauncherOne, a rocket that launches straight from a 747 carrier aircraft.

LauncherOne pictured above is carried by "Cosmic Girl" the first ever 747 converted to carry rockets. Its duty is to carry the rocket to 35,000 feet before launch, Cosmic Girl can release LauncherOne to deploy small-scale satellites without relying on—and paying for—the traditional ground launch.

Launching from a mobile launch pad like this brings a tonne of flexibility to the mission, meaning there's more practical availability then when using a ground-based launch pad.

Benefits include being able to operate independently from a variety of locations and through all kinds of weather that would otherwise hold up the launch.

A quote from the team - "Air launch frees missions from traffic jams at the existing launch sites; eliminates the need for costly, fixed ground infrastructure; and makes the system more resilient to unfavourable weather conditions."

Heres the launch process as described by the Virgin Orbit Team:

Once released from the carrier aircraft, the LauncherOne rocket fires up its single main stage engine, a 73,500 lbf, LOX/RP-1 rocket engine called the “NewtonThree.” Typically, this engine will fire for approximately three minutes. After stage separation, the single upper stage engine, a 5,000 lbf LOX/RP-1 rocket engine called the “NewtonFour” will carry the satellite(s) into orbit. Typically, the second stage will execute multiple burns totalling nearly six minutes.

At the end of this sequence, LauncherOne will deploy our customers’ satellite (or satellites) into their desired orbit. Both stages of LauncherOne will be safely deorbited, while the carrier aircraft will return to a predetermined airport, where it can be quickly prepared for its next flight.