Starshine 4

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

Mission details:

• Virgin Orbit made its first orbital launch attempt on May 25, 2020. The Boeing 747 tail number N744VG, ′Cosmic Girl′, took off from Mojave Air and Space Port at 1856 UTC and flew out over the Pacific southwest of San Nicolas Island. At 1950 UTC, near 119.83W 33.14N on a heading 155 deg E of N, the aircraft dropped LauncherOne and the rocket′s first stage ignited correctly and flew stably until 9 seconds after drop (is 4s after ignition?) when the engine prematurely shut down and the vehicle fell intact to the ocean. It′s unclear whether the vehicle underwent any kind of range safety destruct before crashing into the sea.
• This was the first orbital launch attempt by an air-launched liquid-fuelled rocket.
  The mission carried a small inert test payload, the Starshine 4 satellite. An additional small payload, INTERNSAT, was intended to remain attached to the upper stage.

External links:

• EOportal.org Satellite description