The first rocket launch from UK soil failed on Tuesday due to an “anomaly” that was detected as the rocket approached its target, according to scientists. The 70-foot (21-metre) rocket was launched at 2202 GMT by a Virgin Orbit Boeing 747 from a spaceport in Cornwall, southwest England. The rocket then separated from the airplane and was expected to burn up at about 2315 GMT at an altitude of 35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean, south of Ireland. But in a series of tweets as the rocket was about to enter orbit and release its nine satellites, Virgin Orbit said: “We see an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information.” ”
“As we learn more information, we are deleting our previous tweet about reaching orbit. We will share more information when we can.” Orbit and the UK Space Agency.
This launch was the first from the United Kingdom. Previously, UK-built satellites had to be launched into orbit through overseas spaceports. If the project had been successful, the United Kingdom would have been one of nine countries capable of launching a spacecraft into Earth orbit. Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, told BBC television ahead of the launch: “It’s very important to be in that exclusive club of launch nations because it gives us our own access to space… something we’ve never had before here in the UK.” did not do.”
Hundreds of people attended the launch, which was dubbed “Start Me Up” after the Rolling Stones song. The satellites were to provide a variety of civil and military duties, including maritime surveillance to assist governments in detecting people smugglers and space weather observation. The commercialization of space has led to an increase in the number of space bases in Europe in recent years.
Satellites were previously employed by national space agencies for large-scale institutional missions, but most of Europe’s spaceport projects are now private sector efforts. With the emergence of smaller start-ups, current technology that makes both rocket and satellite smaller “Space is the new frontier for military growth and spending without any real public scrutiny or accountability,” said Kate Hudson, secretary general of the increasingly diverse Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). Drone Wars filmmaker Chris Cole denounced “a space arms competition that will ultimately lead to instability and a high risk of conflict”.