astronomy

Spirit of Mojave

Spirit of Mojave is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Spirit of Mojave rather than just read about it. In short: Spirit of Mojave, previously Cosmic Girl is a Boeing 747-400 aircraft. A former passenger airliner operated by Virgin Atlantic, it was purchased by Virgin Galactic in 2015 to be used as the first stage launch platform (or mothership launch pad) for the air launch stage of the smallsat orbital launch vehicle, the LauncherOne.

Key takeaways

Spirit of Mojave belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Spirit of Mojave to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Spirit of Mojave from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Spirit of Mojave, previously Cosmic Girl is a Boeing 747-400 aircraft. A former passenger airliner operated by Virgin Atlantic, it was purchased by Virgin Galactic in 2015 to be used as the first stage launch platform (or mothership launch pad) for the air launch stage of the smallsat orbital launch vehicle, the LauncherOne. In 2017, the aircraft was transferred to the orbital launch subsidiary, Virgin Orbit, and its livery updated to Virgin Orbit. LauncherOne attempted its first launch on 25 May 2020; the launch was a failure. The first successful launch (second launch in total) took place on 17 January 2021. Virgin Orbit declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 4, 2023. Cosmic Girl was subsequently sold at auction to Stratolaunch, to complement their existing Roc launch platform for their Talon Hypersonic testbed vehicle, and was renamed Spirit of Mojave.

Airliner Cosmic Girl was assembled in 2001 at the Boeing Everett Factory as a Boeing 747-41R with the serial number 32745. The aircraft's first flight was on 29 September 2001, and it was delivered to Virgin Atlantic on 31 October 2001, where she was registered as G-VWOW. She was named for the Jamiroquai song "Cosmic Girl". 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. 1) engine struck the ground. The plane was transferred to Virgin Galactic in 2015 and re-registered in the United States as N744VG. It was renamed Spirit of Mojave. Cosmic Girl was based at Long Beach Airport. For the second operational flight of the LauncherOne vehicle, however, the plane took off for a launch (which failed) from Newquay Airport, England, on 9 January 2023.

Launch platform The jetliner was in service with the airline until October 2015. The airliner, previously leased by Virgin Atlantic, was purchased outright by Virgin Galactic, and registered as N744VG, in November 2015. A 747 was selected due to its carrying capacity. The acquisition of the 747 allowed the use of separate carrying aircraft for SpaceShipTwo and LauncherOne. With the spinoff of Virgin Orbit in 2017, Cosmic Girl was also transferred.

The air launch to orbit LauncherOne rocket was originally envisioned to operate from the smaller airplane WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) launch platform, used for the suborbital Tier 1b system of WK2 and SpaceShipTwo (SS2). As the size of LauncherOne expanded to better encompass the marketplace and acquire marketshare of small launches, the rocket outgrew WK2, leading to the evaluation of bigger launch aircraft, and the acquisition of Cosmic Girl for LauncherOne operations. The use of a larger airplane allows doubling of LauncherOne payload capacity to 200 kilograms (440 lb), though with the selection of a 747, ultimately, 400 kilograms (880 lb) may be supported. 747s have previously been used to air launch other craft, including the Space Shuttle Enterprise. The use of Cosmic Girl marks the first use of a 747 as a space launch platform.

The LauncherOne attachment pylon is situated on the left wing, where on a normal 747, the fifth engine attachment point is located for ferrying engines. This point is located between the fuselage and the left inboard engine. LauncherOne would be dropped from Cosmic Girl at a height of 35,000 feet (11,000 m). The maximum payload limit for LauncherOne operations on Cosmic Girl is 400 kilograms (880 lb). 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. The second launch, on 17 January 2021, successfully delivered 10 CubeSats to low Earth orbit (LEO). Virgin Orbit's third launch (and first with commercial payloads, entitled "Tubular Bells") successfully launched on 30 June 2021. Launch 4 "Above the Clouds" successfully reached orbit on 13 January 2022. Launch 5 "Straight Up" successfully reached orbit on 1 July 2022. After it was postponed several times due to regulatory issues, the sixth launch took place on 9 January 2023. The rocket failed to reach orbit. It was the first and only failure for Virgin Orbit with commercial payloads. This final launch for Virgin Orbit marked its first international launch and the first ever rocket launched from UK soil.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Spirit of Mojave

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Spirit of Mojave claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Spirit of Mojave before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Spirit of Mojave ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Spirit of Mojave

In research: Spirit of Mojave appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Spirit of Mojave in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Spirit of Mojave is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aircraft related to spaceflight, Boeing 747, Individual aircraft, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Spirit of Mojave outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Spirit of Mojave in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Spirit of Mojave means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Spirit of Mojave out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spirit of Mojave in simple terms?

Why does Spirit of Mojave matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Spirit of Mojave?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Spirit of Mojave.