This past Sunday was a day I have been waiting for for a long time. Since starting my career in aerospace, I have wanted that celebratory moment that comes with successfully getting something awesome to space. I’ve seen that moment countless times at places like JPL & SpaceX and one of the biggest reasons I joined Virgin Orbit was to get that moment. So it blew my mind when on January 17th we aced our 2nd launch attempt in about every way. I tempered my expectations that morning with memories of a marginally successful first launch attempt and watched the live feed with coworker friends on a video call. It was intense, and after several minutes of nervous energy we transitioned into excited energy as we realized we had successfully launched a two stage liquid propelled rocket from the wing of a 747 to orbit. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to share it surrounded by 200 other people freaking out.

Check out the highlights below and click any photo to see the full Google album.