Ready to Rocket the UK Space Industry to New Heights: Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne Arrives at Spaceport Cornwall
Credit: Spaceport Cornwall
LauncherOne, Virgin Orbit’s rocket set to deliver the first ever launch from UK soil, has arrived at Spaceport Cornwall.
The rocket left California, loaded on a C-17 military aircraft on Thursday 13th of October, touching down at Cornwall Airport Newquay on Friday evening.
Later this year, LauncherOne will carry seven payloads into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on the Start Me Up mission. This will include the first ever satellite launched by the Sultanate of Oman focused on Earth Observation; future-facing return satellite tech aboard Wales’ first satellite, built by Space Forge; a Maritime monitoring payload built by Horizon Technologies and the Satellite Applications Catapult; as well satellites from the MOD, DSTL and US National Reconnaissance Office.
Start Me Up will be a launch of many firsts: the first orbital launch ever from the United Kingdom; the first international launch for Virgin Orbit, and the first commercial launch from Western Europe.
With the landing of Virgin Orbit’s launch carrier aircraft – Cosmic Girl – which will carry LauncherOne to an altitude of roughly 35,000 ft before deploying the rocket, the arrival of key Ground Support Equipment and the integration of the majority of the payloads complete; LauncherOne is the last piece of the launch infrastructure to arrive on site.
Melissa Thorpe, Head of Spaceport Cornwall: “It’s been an incredible week at Spaceport Cornwall, and the arrival of LauncherOne is the cherry on top. Seeing the infrastructure in place makes our launch ambitions a reality. We cannot wait to see the rocket take to the skies soon, carrying Earth-benefitting satellite technology into Low Earth Orbit.”
Linda Taylor, Leader for Cornwall Council added: “This is an exciting and significant moment as we welcome LauncherOne to the first UK Spaceport right here in Cornwall. Cornwall Council is proud to be a part of this project which puts Cornwall once again on the global stage. Spaceport Cornwall is already inspiring our young people to become the next generation of scientists and innovators – we look forward to the ground breaking research and exploration that will be undertaken in the years to come, which will help us to better understand and address the needs of our planet and in particular climate change.”
The countdown to the first launch from Cornwall is well and truly underway. Virgin Orbit has been working closely with the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Royal Air Force (RAF), and the Spaceport Cornwall team to make all necessary preparations for liftoff.