Virgin Orbit flew the Cosmic Girl airliner to Long Beach, the company's headquarters. There, work will begin to equip the aircraft with the external equipment to carry one of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rockets
Virgin Orbit has spent more than a year inspecting and modifying the 747-400, cutting almost 70,000 pounds. (31,750 kilograms) unnecessary weight from inside the aircraft and adding electrical systems that ultimately support the addition of a rocket carrier (called pylon) to one of the wings Cosmic Girl.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued Cosmic Girl an Experimental Certificate of Airworthiness, which means the aircraft is allowed to run test flights, company officials said in a statement.
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