Space News:
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military will have growing demands for space vehicles that can launch small satellites to orbit on short notice. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord said the Pentagon should work more closely with launch providers to make sure those services are available in the near future.
One of her stops during a recent trip to California was launch startup Virgin Orbit, a spinoff of Richard Branson’s suborbital spaceflight company Virgin Galactic. The company developed a vehicle called LauncherOne that will be air-launched from a modified Boeing 747 aircraft. It is preparing to launch a small satellite for the Defense Department in 2019.
“They’re an example of the type of companies I think we need to cultivate,” Lord told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday. “I think we need to look at launch service capability for small sats as well as large.”
