Britain’s effort to become the first European nation to launch a satellite into space was unsuccessful on Tuesday after Virgin Orbit reported an “anomaly” in its rocket that prevented it from reaching orbit. “We seem to have a problem that has kept us from getting into orbit. We are considering the data, “said Virgin Orbit.
For the “horizontal launch” mission, which left from the beach town of Newquay in southwest England, Virgin’s LauncherOne rocket was carried beneath the wing of a customized Boeing 747 called “Cosmic Girl.” According to Reuters, the missile was afterward launched over the Atlantic Ocean.
Virgin Orbit originally planned to launch nine satellites into low Earth orbit
Ten minutes before midnight, the aircraft engineering company made the “anomaly” known to the public. Less than an hour after the rocket from Cosmic Girl was fired, LauncherOne was launched from a modified 747 jumbo jet over the Atlantic Ocean at 35,000 feet. This follows the failure of an Italian-built Vega-C rocket mission launched from French Guiana in late December.
Virgin Orbit, a business partially controlled by British billionaire Richard Branson, originally planned to launch nine satellites into low Earth orbit on its first journey away from its American base (LEO). The rockets have been suspended ever since. Virgin Orbit said that LauncherOne had entered earth orbit in a since-deleted tweet. “Over the coming days there will be an investigation by the government and various bodies, including Virgin Orbit,” Matt Archer, Commercial Space Director at the UK Space Agency wrote.
