Virgin Orbit's jumbo, known as Cosmic Girl, landed at Newquay Airport in Cornwall just before 18:30 BST yesterday (Tuesday October 11).
The jumbo jet is a former Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 passenger plane which has been converted to carry a rocket, called LauncherOne, to an altitude of approximately 35,000ft (10km) and then drop it.
The aeroplane will be used for the first-ever satellite launch from the UK; specifically, Spaceport Cornwall, which is based at the airport, early next month. Once released into the atmosphere, the LauncherOne rocket will accelerate to 8,000mph before deploying seven satellites into orbit.
"It feels amazing to be here now. It feels amazing to be home, amazing to bring Cosmic Girl in here. And we're weeks away now from the first launch from the UK. So, it's very real. I'm really excited," squadron leader Mathew ‘Stanny’ Stannard told BBC News.
To date, Cosmic Girl has carried more than 2.5 million...