The first orbital satellite launch from the UK took off from Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay, but failed to deploy its satellites to orbit. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket, which took off attached to a Boeing 747 plane at 10.01pm GMT, began its ascent to orbit after about an hour into the flight, but around 25 minutes later the launcher “suffered an anomaly” and had to abort its mission.
It isn’t certain whether the rocket and its satellites burned up in Earth’s atmosphere on reentry or came to ground over unpopulated areas.
Thousands of people were gathered near the runway to watch and cheer on the plane, Cosmic Girl, as it took off amid fierce winds and speakers blaring Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones. While there may not have been much to see in the skies, there was a festival atmosphere keeping spirits high on the ground, with food trucks and a silent disco lining the runway. After Cosmic Girl left the airport, a large monitor tracked the plane’s progress towards the Irish Sea, where it was supposed to deploy the rocket and its payload of nine satellites.
When the LauncherOne rocket was dropped from Cosmic Girl, it began its journey to low-Earth orbit. The first stage successfully took it to about 12,900 kilometres per hour. The second stage accelerated the rocket to its cruise phase at 28,000 kilometres per hour. According to a spokesperson for the UK Space Agency (UKSA), the rocket reached low-Earth orbit but suffered an “anomaly” which caused it to abort its mission.
www.newscientist.com/article/2354092-first-satellite-launch-from-the-uk-failed-due-to-an-anomaly/
h/t Karlgel