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Virgin OrbitLauncherOneMojave Air and Space Port, Air launch to orbit
Above the Clouds
Launched
January 13, 2022
Summary
Above the Clouds launched on a Virgin Orbit LauncherOne from Mojave Air and Space Port, Air launch to orbit on January 13, 2022. It was Virgin Orbit's 4th launch, 1st this year and humanity's 6,185th orbital launch attempt. It was the 4th LauncherOne flight and the 1st this year. The payload was bound for low Earth orbit (LEO). PAN A, one of 8 catalogued objects, reached a 504 × 512 km orbit inclined 45.0°. 8 objects from this launch are catalogued, 7 of them payloads.
- Watch
- LauncherOne Above The CloudsThe Space Devs
- Vehicle
- LauncherOne · Virgin Orbit
- Booster
- No booster details on record.
- Mission
- Communications · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
- Milestone
- 4th LauncherOne flight · 1st this yearVirgin Orbit's 4th launch1st this yearhumanity's 6,185th orbital launch attempt3rd orbital launch attempt this year
Flight preview
Orbit: as tracked
PAN A · NORAD 51094 · 2022-003 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 8 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
- Object ID
- 2021-003A
- Epoch
- 2022-01-14 12:57:37 UTC
- Mean motion
- 15.21625898 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.0005981
- Inclination
- 44.9804°
- Ascending node
- 187.5376°
- Arg. of perigee
- 284.9331°
- Mean anomaly
- 178.919°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 9
- B*
- 0
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: LEO.
Catalogued objects
8 catalogued: 7 payloads, 1 rocket stage; none still in orbit
- PAN A · NORAD 51094 · re-entered January 30, 2024
- TechEdSat-13 · NORAD 51095 · re-entered July 13, 2024
- PAN B · NORAD 51096 · re-entered August 16, 2024
- GEARRS-3 · NORAD 51097 · re-entered August 7, 2024
- STORK 3 · NORAD 51098 · re-entered August 29, 2023
- SteamSat-2 · NORAD 51099 · re-entered September 26, 2023
- ADLER-1 · NORAD 51100 · re-entered June 10, 2023
LauncherOne R05 Stage 2 · re-entered October 4, 2023
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
Mission to a 500 km circular orbit inclined at 45 degrees carrying eight R&D satellites from US government agencies with communications and navigation experiments as well as two Earth-observation nanosatellites from Polish company SatRevolution.
Related page: Above the CloudsRelated page: Introducing Our Next Mission: Above the Clouds
Pad
Mojave Air and Space Port, Air launch to orbit
4th launch from Mojave Air and Space Port, 1st this year · 49th from Air launch to orbit
5 launches from this pad · 52 from Air launch to orbit
197 days after the previous launch from this pad
Updates
Launch success.
Show 9 earlier updates
Updating the window
SwGustav · 1/13/2022 · source
Now targeting January 13.
Jay · 1/11/2022 · source
Updated launch time.
Cosmic_Penguin · 12/29/2021 · source
NET January 12
Jay · 12/23/2021 · source
Launch now planned in January 2022.
Cosmic_Penguin · 12/21/2021 · source
New launch date/time per marine space closure notices, to be officially confirmed.
Cosmic_Penguin · 12/9/2021 · source
Mentioning of this launch in USCG local warning messages has been removed.
Cosmic_Penguin · 11/30/2021 · source
Launch date and window updated per USCG marine space closure notices.
Cosmic_Penguin · 11/11/2021 · source
New mission name “Above The Clouds” confirmed.
Cosmic_Penguin · 11/9/2021 · source
Questions
When did Above the Clouds launch?
Above the Clouds launched on January 13, 2022. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.
Where can I watch Above the Clouds?
Coverage: LauncherOne Above The Clouds. Watch the replay
What rocket launched Above the Clouds?
LauncherOne, flown by Virgin Orbit. LauncherOne spec sheet
Where did Above the Clouds launch from?
Mojave Air and Space Port, Air launch to orbit.
What orbit did Above the Clouds reach?
PAN A, one of 8 catalogued objects, reached a 504 × 512 km orbit inclined 45.0°.
How many satellites did Above the Clouds launch?
7 payloads from this launch are catalogued, none of them still in orbit (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).