Space: Planned satellite launch in England failed

space travel
Planned satellite launch in England failed

Engineers make final preparations at Cornwall Airport for a satellite launch that has now failed Photo

© Uncredited/Virgin Orbit/AP/dpa

For the first time, a jumbo jet takes off from British soil as a flying launch pad for space satellites – but there is a technical failure.

The planned satellite launch in Great Britain unexpectedly encountered problems on Tuesday night. “It appears that an anomaly prevented us from reaching orbit,” tweeted the US company Virgin Orbit. You evaluate the information.

An employee of the British space agency later described the mission as “unsuccessful”. The rocket didn’t reach the required altitude and the satellites couldn’t send out, UK Space Agency’s Matt Archer told reporters at Spaceport Cornwall. In the next few days there will be an investigation to find out how the technical failure could have happened and how to proceed.

Safely back on earth

A jumbo jet had previously flown from British soil as a flying launch pad for space satellites for the first time. The converted machine, called “Cosmic Girl”, took off from Newquay Airport in south-west England late Monday evening as planned. At a height of around 10.7 kilometers above the Atlantic Ocean, the converted Boeing 747 aircraft was then to send a launch vehicle into space, which in turn was to put nine small satellites into orbit. Apparently there were problems. What exactly happened was initially unclear. The plane, meanwhile, returned to Earth safely and as planned, it said.

The US space company Virgin Orbit, owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, has been carrying out similar launches in the USA since 2021. In honor of the British rock band Rolling Stones, the mission was called “Start Me Up” after the hit of the same name by the group around frontman Mick Jagger.

Newquay is one of a total of seven planned spaceports in the United Kingdom. The first vertical launch of a rocket is planned in Scotland later this year. The government hopes the space industry will contribute around £3.8 billion (€4.3bn) to the UK economy over the next decade.

dpa

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