This is a great first in the UK. A plane is due to take off Monday evening from Cornwall to launch nine satellites into space. The Boeing 747 is due to take off from Newquay Airport in south-west England from 11:16 p.m., carrying a rocket that will then be launched from the plane into orbit. The mission, called “Start Me Up” in reference to the Rolling Stones hit, is carried out by British billionaire Richard Branson’s company Virgin Orbit, which specializes in space launches for small satellites.
This is the first time that satellites will be launched from Europe (excluding Russia), UK Space Agency Deputy Director Ian Annett said on Sunday, calling the launch a “new era” for space exploration. “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 before in the United Kingdom”, underlined Monday on the BBC Melissa Thorpe, director of Spaceport Cornwall from where the plane will take off.
An aircraft less expensive than a launch pad
From a geopolitical point of view, “it gives us control over who and how we organize our launches”, she added, recalling that Europe had lost its access to the Russian Soyuz launcher since the invasion of Ukraine, compromising its access to space.
The 21-meter rocket, called LauncherOne, is attached under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 called “Cosmic Girl”. Once the correct altitude has been reached – about an hour after takeoff as part of the British mission – the plane releases the rocket which starts its own engine to propel itself into space and place its cargo in orbit. Launching a rocket from an airplane is easier than a vertical take-off because theoretically a simple airstrip is enough, instead of an expensive space launch pad.
Varied objectives
For the UK launch, nine satellites are to be put into orbit with varying purposes, “from Earth observation to monitoring illegal fishing to building satellites and products to manufacture them in space” , explained Melissa Thorpe. In case of last minute concerns or if the weather conditions are not met on Monday evening, other dates are planned in the coming weeks.
Until then, British satellites had to be launched into space from abroad but the country is seeking to support its aerospace industry after its role in European projects was called into question by Brexit. In addition to the Spaceport in Cornwall, the United Kingdom wants to open a space base in Sutherland in the north of Scotland and another on an island in Shetland. According to a statement from the Scottish government in early January, launches are planned from these two bases “in the coming months”.