The first orbital satellite launch from the UK is scheduled for tonight at Newquay’s Spaceport Cornwall. If successful, Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket, carrying a nine-satellite payload, will be launched from a modified Boeing 747 plane at 35,000 feet off the south coast of Ireland, where it will proceed into low-Earth orbit. Drop cargo.
The UK has the world’s second largest satellite building industry after the US, but relies on public and private launches from other countries, including NASA and SpaceX, to get its products into orbit. . Many hope that tonight’s success will mark the beginning of an era in which the UK will be able to launch its own satellites, as well as those of other nations.
“It has come a long way to get here, with many international agreements and working with countries such as Ireland, Spain and Portugal that are involved in the management of their airspace. The British Space Agency (UKSA). There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes.”
The countdown to launch at Newquay was a frenzied few days, with a plane called Cosmic Girl, with a LauncherOne rocket mounted under one wing, weathering the runway as the Virgin Orbit team. A last minute check before the flight was carried out. Last week the setup passed a ‘wet dress rehearsal’ and the entire launch procedure was followed, with the exception of the ignition itself.
The team hopes the plane will be able to take off safely, even if the weather turns bad. “The Boeing 747 is a proven aircraft. It can take off in very difficult conditions and land in difficult conditions,” said Ian Annett, Deputy CEO, Program Delivery, UKSA. “Of course, having the rocket under the left wing means you have to be aware of that, but being able to fly above the weather for launch is also an advantage. [the rocket]”
Once the plane gets the green light for launch, it will take off between 9:40pm – 11:00pm GMT (4:40pm – 6:00pm EST) and head to the Irish Sea for rocket drop about an hour later. .
After Virgin Orbit’s four successful launches to date from its facility in the Mojave Desert, California, the rocket LauncherOne will begin its first stage burn. Start your solo journey.
The rocket then drops the first stage and engages the second stage, accelerating to 28,000 kilometers per hour in about six minutes as it passes over Antarctica. About an hour after deployment, it reaches an orbital altitude of about 500 kilometers over Australia, where it releases a payload containing nine satellites.
Called Cosmic Girl, this modified Boeing 747 takes off from Spaceport Cornwall with a rocket under one wing. Spaceport Cornwall
The last rocket launch in California gave the Virgin Orbit team confidence that tonight’s attempt would go smoothly and the system would operate essentially the same, said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. I’m here., Said new scientist At a pre-launch press conference. He says the only difference being in Cornwall instead of the US is “pasties and burgers.”
Satellites onboard LauncherOne include Welsh company Space Forge’s test satellite (which hopes to manufacture materials in orbit), the UK Ministry of Defense’s small military communications satellite, and the US-UK Joint Military Cooperation’s Ionospheric Monitor 2. and maritime sensing satellites. From the Scottish company AAC Clyde Space, his GPS tracker for the European Space Agency and an imaging satellite jointly launched by Oman and Poland.
Newquay may seem an unlikely satellite launch site, but it has long runways formerly used by the Royal Air Force, easy access to the sea, and a relatively sparse civilian population. Combined with the population, the UK government has identified it as the frontrunner. It was named the UK’s first spaceport in 2018.
There is excitement in both the launch itself, with hundreds of locals ferrying in from the town’s shuttle tonight, and what a spaceport that has lost funding from the European Union might bring to the region. Post-Brexit – in terms of jobs and opportunities, such as the integration facility opened last year with satellites to be launched on rocket bodies.
Tonight’s launch may be the only launch in Cornwall this year, but the British government eventually wants to build a network of spaceports, including a vertical launch facility at Saxabord in the Shetland Islands. , planning a rocket launch there. this year. Archer said that in 10 years, UKSA hopes to have around 15 launches per year, which will allow it to compete with countries with more established space launch industries, he said.
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