Rocket Report: Russia suspends Soyuz production, OneWeb seeks a rescue

Enlarge / The Rocket Report is published weekly. (credit: Arianespace)

Welcome to Edition 2.40 of the Rocket Report! This was a big week for Virgin Orbit, which not only won a contract for three launches but also took a final technical step toward LauncherOne's first orbital attempt. The fact that the company flew a captive-carry test on Easter Sunday suggests they are serious about getting into space. We eagerly await the rocket's debut.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Virgin Orbit completes major pre-launch test. Virgin Orbit completed a captive-carry test flight of its LauncherOne system on Easter Sunday, the final major milestone before the company performs its first orbital launch attempt, SpaceNews reports. Virgin Orbit had performed captive-carry test flights in the past, but this was the first with a flight version of LauncherOne, filled with RP-1 fuel and liquid nitrogen, attached.

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