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SPACE – First try. An attempt to launch the first rocket into space from British soil fell through on Monday night, January 10, when an “anomaly” prevented it from being launched into orbit.
“It appears we have an anomaly preventing us from reaching orbit,” tweeted Virgin Orbit, the company that organized this mission, which should catapult the UK into the “exclusive” club of countries, the spacecraft can send.
We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We evaluate the information.
—Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit)
Virgin Orbit’s Boeing 747, carrying the 21-metre rocket, took off from Spaceport Cornwall, a consortium between Virgin Orbit and the British Space Agency, at Newquay Airport in south-west England on Monday evening at 11:02 p.m. Paris time. The purpose of the mission was to launch nine satellites into space, which would have been a major first for Britain.
Have Your “Own Gateway to Space”
The rocket then separated from the aircraft and its engines ignited at around 12:15 am at an altitude of 35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean south of Ireland. But the “anomaly” of unspecified kind prevented it from achieving the desired orbit.
A first for Cornwall and the UK (and no, it’s not just a plane taking off in the dark) #VirginOrbit… https://t.co/79jVT3dzd7
— Lee Trewhela 〓〓 (@LeeTrewhela)
Hundreds of people attended the launch of the mission, named “Start Me Up” after the Rolling Stones hit song, and provided by British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit company, which specializes in space launches for small satellites.
If successful, Britain would become the ninth country in the world capable of launching satellites.
“Joining this very exclusive club of launch countries is so important because it gives us our own access to space, this sovereign access to space that we have never had in the UK before,” underlined Melissa Thorpe, pre-launch director the BBC of Cornwall Cosmodrome.
She reminded that since the invasion of Ukraine, Europe has lost its access to the Russian Soyuz launch vehicle, which has threatened its access to space.
Launch a rocket from an airplane
Dubbed LauncherOne, the 21-metre rocket was fitted under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 dubbed Cosmic Girl. Once at the correct altitude, the plane released the rocket, which then started its own engine to propel itself. The aircraft then returned to Spaceport Cornwall.
Unique event off the coast of Cork Kerry tomorrow afternoon Airborne satellite launch by @VirginOrbit 21m rocket falls from… https://t.co/KOAhUh9rPB
— Joe Mag Raollaigh (@joemagraollaigh)
Launching a rocket from an airplane is easier than a vertical take-off because, in theory, a simple runway will suffice instead of an expensive launch pad.
In the past, Virgin Orbit, which offers a fast and adaptable space launch service for satellites between 300 and 500 kg, has put other aircraft-launched rockets into orbit.
Founded in 2017 by Richard Branson, the company first succeeded in launching a rocket using this method from a Boeing 747 that was leaving the California desert in January 2021.
“From Earth Observation to Monitoring Illegal Fishing”
Nine satellites were to be put into orbit for the UK launch, with different purposes, “from Earth observation and monitoring illegal fishing to building satellites and products to make them in space,” explained Melissa Thorpe.
So far, British satellites have had to be launched from abroad, but the country is trying to support its aerospace industry after its role in European projects was called into question by Brexit.
In addition to Cornwall Spaceport, the UK plans to open a space base in Sutherland in northern Scotland and another on an island in Shetland. According to a statement from the Scottish Government in early January, launches from these two bases are planned “in the coming months”.
See also on The HuffPost:
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