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Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is targeting the coming weekend for its first attempt to launch a demonstration payload into space aboard a rocket released from beneath the wing of a Boeing 747.
The company said Wednesday the launch is scheduled for Sunday off the coast of Southern California and will only proceed if conditions are satisfactory.
The carrier aircraft will take off from Mojave Air and Space Port and fly out over the Pacific. Release of the rocket would occur near San Nicolas Island. Virgin Orbit is a sister company of Virgin Galactic, which is preparing to carry tourists on suborbital flights over New Mexico.
