Virgin Orbit Archives - The Daily Space

Cosmic Manatee with a Particle Accelerator on its Head

Jul 6, 2022 | Daily Space, Galaxies, Mars, Moon, Nebulae, Neutron Stars / Pulsars, Rockets, Rovers, Space China, Virgin Orbit, Zhurong

Scientists observing the Manatee Nebula find that the supernova remnant contains a stellar-mass black hole that is emitting powerful, high-energy jets, creating the strange, double-lobed shape. Plus, rocket launches, mission updates from Mars and the Moon, and a spinning galaxy from the early universe.

Another Possible Exomoon Discovered

Jan 17, 2022 | Daily Space, Exoplanets, JWST, Mars, Rockets, Sky Watching, Space History, Spacecraft, SpaceX, Stars, Virgin Orbit, White Dwarfs

Researchers have potentially found a Neptune-sized exomoon orbiting a Jupiter-sized planet in a system with a Sun-like star, making it the second such potential exomoon discovered to date. Plus, rocket launches, This Week in Rocket History, and What’s Up.

Rocket Roundup for July 14, 2021

Jul 15, 2021 | Crewed Space, Daily Space, Random Space Fact, Rockets, Soyuz, Space China, Space History, Spacecraft, SpaceX, Starlink, Virgin Orbit

For this week’s Rocket Roundup, we have all the Chinese launches! SpaceX launches a ton of satellites on one rocket, Virgin Orbit launches a few satellites from a plane, and Virgin Galactic sends a few employees to space. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Impact Gardening Churns Surface of Saturn’s Moon Europa

Jul 14, 2021 | Blue Origin, Crewed Space, Daily Space, Earth, Jupiter, Our Solar System, Saturn, Space China, Spacecraft, Virgin Orbit

Over tens of millions of years, the surface of Europa has been churned by impacts down to an average depth of 30 centimeters. This churning means that the search for chemical biosignatures must look below that zone. Plus, methane and icequakes at Enceladus, predicting underwater eruptions, Virgin Galactic’s flight, and a Chinese spacewalk.

Rocket Roundup for May 26, 2021

May 27, 2021 | Crewed Space, Daily Space, JAXA, Random Space Fact, Rockets, Space China, Space History, Spacecraft, Virgin Orbit

There were only three launches this past week — an SBIRS satellite for the United States government, an ocean-monitoring satellite for the Chinese government, and the very successful launch of a Virgin SpaceShip suborbital plane. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the first crewed Skylab mission.

Rocket Roundup for May 19, 2021

May 20, 2021 | Daily Space, Random Space Fact, Rockets, Space History, Spacecraft, SpaceX, Starlink, Virgin Orbit

This week, we share a Rocket Lab launch failure (but first stage recovery success), yet another Starlink (with rideshare payloads), and a rare-sounding rocket launch. Plus, this week in rocket history, we take a look back at a key early mission: Apollo 10, which launched on May 18th, 1969.