Britain’s first-ever satellite mission ended in failure on Monday night when the Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket, which took off from Newquay, Cornwall, failed to reach the designated orbit.
The “Cosmic Girl”, a modified Boeing 747 jet, was carrying the first satellite launch from UK soil and was directed to release LauncherOne high over the Atlantic, however, after successful ignition, the rocket apparently ascended correctly but then suffered an “anomaly” due to which it could not release the nine satellites it was carrying and were eventually lost, according to the company.
“It appears that LauncherOne has suffered an anomaly which will prevent us from making orbit for this mission,” announced Christopher Relf, director of systems engineering and verification for Virgin Orbit, in a Virgin Orbit live stream covering the mission.
LauncherOne is the name of the space rocket that joined a ride beneath the wing of the jet called Cosmic Girl.
According to Matt Archer, Virgin Orbit’s launch program director, the issue occurred in the upper segment of the rocket.
“The second-stage engine had a technical anomaly and didn’t reach the required orbit,” he explained.
“That’s now part of an investigation by Virgin Orbit and a number of government departments,” he told the news agency.
Archer could not confirm whether the launch had fallen back to Earth but noted that it would have come down over unpopulated areas if it did.
This historic satellite mission was pronounced as a major milestone for UK space, marking the birth of an indigenous launch industry. The spirit is to turn the country into a universal player – from building rockets to manufacturing satellites and creating new spaceports.
Ian Annett, Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency, said it exhibited “how difficult” getting into orbit actually was – but anticipated further launches within the next 12 months.
“We get up, we go back, we try again, that’s what defines us,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.