Spirit of Mojave

It was subsequently sold at auction to Stratolaunch to complement their existing Roc launch platform for their Talon Hypersonic testbed vehicle.[2] The aircraft's first flight was on 29 September 2001,[2] and it was delivered to Virgin Atlantic on 31 October 2001,[4] where she was registered as G-VWOW.[8] On 3 November 2005, the aircraft was landing at Runway 27R at Heathrow Airport when a crosswind caused her to roll to the left, and the left-most (No.[10] For the second operational flight of the LauncherOne vehicle, however, the plane took off for a launch (which failed) from Newquay Airport, United Kingdom, on 9 January 2023.[16] The maximum payload limit for LauncherOne operations on Cosmic Girl is 400 kilograms (880 lb).[17] Making her first flight on 25 May 2020, a privately funded air-launched rocket, LauncherOne, developed and built by Virgin Orbit, failed to reach space after release from Cosmic Girl over the Pacific Ocean.
Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne on the way out to sea
Virgin Atlantic livery as G-VWOW, arriving on flight VS020/V from San Francisco to London Heathrow on 5 October 2013.
Long Beach AirportBoeing 747-41RManufacturerBoeingStratolaunch's TalonVirgin AtlanticVirgin GalacticVirgin OrbitStratolaunchRegistrationLauncherOneBoeing 747-400launch platformmothershiplaunch padair launchsmallsatorbital launch vehicleChapter 11 bankruptcyBoeing Everett FactoryJamiroquaiCosmic GirlHeathrow AirportVirgin Groupair launch to orbitrocketWhiteKnightTwoSpaceShipTwoSpace Shuttle EnterprisePacific Oceanlow Earth orbitStargazerBalls 8WhiteKnightOneShuttle Carrier AircraftUK GovernmentYouTubeCBS NewsThe Washington PostMetro.co.ukRichard BransonGeorge T. WhitesidesMike MosesDavid MackayMichael MasucciMark P. StuckyFrederick W. SturckowBeth MosesRocketMotorTwoWhite Knight TwoNewtonOneNewtonTwoNewtonThreeNewtonFourBoeing 747SpaceShip IIIVSS EnterpriseVSS UnityVMS EveVMS Spirit of Steve FossettVSS ImagineSpaceport AmericaSpaceport Sweden2014 VSS Enterprise crashUnity 21Unity 22Unity 25Galactic 01Galactic 02Galactic 03Galactic 04Galactic 05Galactic 06Galactic 07The Spaceship CompanyVOX SpaceScaled CompositesNorthrop GrummanMojave Aerospace VenturesVulcan AerospaceBillionaire space raceSub-orbital spaceflightKármán lineSpace tourismCommercial astronautComposite aircraftParasite aircraftSmallsatsMothership aircraft747-400VC-25 (Air Force One)747 SupertankerBoeing DreamlifterCity of CanberraJumbo StayN661USN747PAN747GEHull lossesOperators747 (performance art)