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1st test launch by Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit postponed

Virgin Orbit
Posted at 8:37 AM, May 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-05-24 11:40:47-04

MOJAVE, Calif. — (AP) — Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit has postponed its first space launch due to a technical problem. The flight was supposed to have happened Sunday but a sensor began acting up. The company has a backup launch window available on Monday.

Virgin Orbit’s rocket is carried beneath the wing of a Boeing 747 that will take off from Mojave Air and Space Port in the desert north of Los Angeles and fly out over the Pacific Ocean. The rocket will be released and its motor will ignite a few seconds later to propel a dummy satellite into low Earth orbit.