The first launch of a space rocket from British soil ended in failure.
- January 10, 2023
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Virgin Orbit was the first to launch a spacecraft into orbit from Great Britain, but failed due to an anomaly in the rocket. This was reported by Ukrinform
Virgin Orbit was the first to launch a spacecraft into orbit from Great Britain, but failed due to an anomaly in the rocket.
This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to Reuters.
The “horizontal launch” mission was said to have launched from the coastal city of Newquay in southwest England, and Virgin’s LauncherOne rocket was carried under the wings of a modified Boeing 747 named Cosmic Girl and then launched over the Atlantic Ocean.
“It looks like we encountered an anomaly that prevented us from reaching orbit. We’re evaluating the information,” he said.
Virgin Orbit initially tweeted that LauncherOne had reached Earth orbit, but later deleted the tweet.
“An investigation will be conducted in the coming days by the government and various agencies, including Virgin Orbit,” said Matt Archer, commercial space director for the UK Space Agency.
According to him, the ignition of the first stage took the rocket into space, but the second stage “had a technical anomaly and did not reach the required orbit.”
A graphic image in official footage showed the mission shutting down its second engine three steps before payload deployment, about two hours after takeoff.
Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart told reporters on Sunday that the company hopes to return to Newquay by the end of 2023.
British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit would place nine small satellites in low Earth orbit in its first mission outside the US base. The mission was announced as a historic first for Cornwall, England and Europe.
The mission failure was the second failure in Virgin Orbit’s history since its initial launch in 2020. Prior to that, the company ran four successful missions.
After Italy’s Vega-C launch vehicle failed after taking off from French Guiana in late December, the failure dealt another blow to Europe’s space ambitions, the agency said.
Europe has experienced a series of setbacks over the past year – the launch of the Ariane 6 launch vehicle has been delayed, access to Russian Soyuz rockets has been blocked due to Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the Vega rocket launch has been halted, and now a demonstration launch for the growing small rocket industry – carriers have been cancelled.
Photo: Virgin Orbit
Source: Ukrinform
I’m Maurice Knox, a professional news writer with a focus on science. I work for Div Bracket. My articles cover everything from the latest scientific breakthroughs to advances in technology and medicine. I have a passion for understanding the world around us and helping people stay informed about important developments in science and beyond.
