Earlier this month, the historic first attempt to launch satellites from British soil reached space, but ultimately fell short of reaching its target orbit.
On 9 January, after taking off from the runway at Spaceport Cornwall – located in Newquay Airport – and travelling to the designated drop zone, Cosmic Girl, the customised former Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 N744VG that serves as the LauncherOne rocket system’s carrier aircraft, successfully released the rocket from a pylon under its wing.
The rocket ignited its engines, going hypersonic and successfully reaching space. The flight then continued through successful stage separation and ignition of the second stage. However, during the firing of the rocket’s second-stage engine and with the rocket travelling at a speed of more than 11,000 miles per hour, the system experienced an anomaly, ending the mission prematurely.
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