Global communications company Sky and Space Global has entered into a binding launch services agreement to buy four missions on Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne system, an air-launched orbital launch vehicle dedicated to the small satellite market.

The deal, the value of which has not been disclosed, will allow Sky and Space Global to deploy its initial constellation of satellites. The announcement took place during the World Satellite Business Week event in Paris, France.

Virgin Galactic also announced the capability to fly LauncherOne from low latitudes, allowing customers to maximize the amount of payload delivered to low inclination orbit, including equatorial orbits.

Virgin Galactic’s airborne launch platform — a modified Boeing 747-400 — is expected to perform the Sky and Space Global flights starting in 2018. Virgin Galactic says that the low-latitude flights will maximise the amount of payload delivered to a low-inclination orbit. Each of the four launches will carry several satellites.

The company says it has already secured an unspecified number of other LauncherOne contracts, including flights for OneWeb and Nasa, which are designed to be launched to higher-inclination orbits. The company has established a 150,000ft² manufacturing shop in Long Beach, California, in preparation for LauncherOne’s first test flights. L-3's Platform Integration unit is a partner in the 747 modification programme.