Science. – The failure of the first satellite launch from British soil – Publimetro México

Madrid, 10 (Europe Press)

The converted plane, named Cosmic Girl, took off at midnight Monday from the so-called Spaceport Cornwall in southwest England and traveled to the designated launch area, where the rocket was successfully launched.

The rocket then fired its engines, accelerated to supersonic speed, and succeeded in reaching space. The flight then continued through successful second-stage separation and second-stage ignition. However, at some point during the launch of the rocket’s second-stage engine and with the rocket traveling at over 17,000 kilometers per hour, “the system experienced an anomaly that prematurely ended the mission,” Virgin Orbit said in a statement.

Named after the Rolling Stones’ success, the “Start Me Up” mission carried satellites from seven agents into space, including commercial and government payloads from various countries and a joint US-UK mission.

Despite the failure, the company headed by Richard Branson stresses that “although the mission has not reached its final orbit, by reaching space and achieving many important achievements for the first time, it represents an important step forward,” and showed that space launches can be It can be achieved from British territory.

Of the five LauncherOne missions carrying payloads for private companies and government agencies, this was the first to fail to deliver its payloads to their designated target orbit.

Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said they will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the mission failure, take corrective action, and return to orbit once the full investigation and mission assurance process is complete.