The company Virgin Orbit reports an “anomaly”, which is why orbit could not be achieved. Details are to be published “as soon as possible”.
A historic British space mission failed on Tuesday night. “Looks like we have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit,” tweeted Virgin Orbit, which organized the launch of the rocket from Cornwall, southwest England.
The rocket, launched late on Monday aboard a converted Boeing 747, was the first to be launched from British soil. He should put nine satellites into orbit, which should be used to detect smugglers and observe the climate. The rocket detached from the Boeing 747 a good 10,600 meters above the Atlantic and would send the satellites into orbit a little later.
But just as the rocket was about to go into orbit and deliver the satellites, Virgin Orbit tweeted, an “anomaly” occurred that “prevented us from reaching orbit.”
Boeing returned to Cornwall Spaceport
With the mission, Great Britain wanted to join the exclusive club of countries capable of launching rockets into orbit. This project has now failed initially.
The Boeing machine, which took off at 22:02 local time (23:02 CET), returned to the Cornwall Cosmodrome at Newquay Airport as planned. In addition to the British space agency, Virgin Orbit, owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, is also involved in the spaceport.
For a long time, satellites were launched only by state institutions. Meanwhile, however, most spaceports in Europe are privately operated. The industry has experienced massive growth with the establishment of numerous small start-ups. It is estimated that around 18,500 small satellites weighing less than 500 kilograms will be launched between 2022 and 2031. In the previous decade, however, there were only around 4,600.
(APA/DPA)