Sun-synchronous orbit
By 2012, several commercial customers had signed early contracts for launches signaling demand-side support for new small commercial-oriented launch vehicles. These included GeoOptics, Skybox Imaging, Spaceflight Services, and Planetary Resources. Both Surrey Satellite Technology and Sierra Nevada Space Systems were at the time reported to be developing satellite buses "optimized to the design of LauncherOne". In October 2012, Virgin announced that LauncherOne would be designed so that it could place in Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Virgin planned at the time to market the payload delivery to Sun-synchronous orbit for under US$10 million per mission, while the maximum payload for low Earth orbit (LEO) missions would be somewhat larger at .