Virgin Galactic's plans to take small commercial satellites into space took on a new twist this week — on-demand flights via an airliner that would serve as mothership for launching its new space vehicle, LauncherOne.During a ceremony in Texas, Virgin founder Richard Branson unveiled "Cosmic Girl," a Boeing 747 transferred from his Virgin Atlantic airline. The jet would be modified to carry LauncherOne under its left wing, from where the vehicle would blast into orbit. Virgin Galactic says the 747, which has been used in other NASA space launch missions, offers carrying capacity, long-range flying in various weather, and plenty of available parts and maintenance resources.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/recent-updates/business-military/b747-unveiled-as-mothership-for-virgin-galactic-spacecraft