Britain has officially joined the space race.
Although the first ever orbital launch from UK soil ended in failure earlier this month, Virgin Orbit’s operations at Spaceport Cornwall are still up and running.
What the company now has to do is establish exactly why its rocket didn’t reach orbit, as the Newquay site desperately tries to hold off stiff competition from rival spaceports aiming to snatch the ‘first successful UK launch’ crown from under its nose.
Here, MailOnline looks at
A US space company that aims to send tourists into space using massive balloons is now buying up ships to turn them into ‘floating spaceports’.
Florida-based firm Space Perspective has acquired a 292-foot-long shipping vessel from Los Angeles shipbuilder Edison Chouest Offshore.
The ship, now named MS Voyager, will become the world’s first ‘marine spaceport’ for human spaceflight – and the first in a planned global fleet operated by Space Perspective.
The fleet of shipping vessels will host launches of
