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London
CNN
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Virgin Orbit’s modified Boeing 747 jet – dubbed the “Cosmic Girl” – took off from Newquay in the English county of Cornwall on Monday. 245 miles west of London, the country’s first launch on UK soil. But it was two hours after the plane left the ground. And as the rocket fired its engines to blast off into space, Virgin Orbit declared the escape a failure.
“LauncherOne appears to have encountered an unusual problem that prevented us from launching into orbit for this mission,” director Christopher Relf said. Systems Engineering and Validation for Virgin Orbit, covering the live stream launch by Virgin Orbit. LauncherOne is the name of a rocket that has experienced a ride. Beneath the wings of the Cosmic Maiden’s plane.
There were no people on the rocket, only satellites, and this rocket initially appeared to have launched from a 747 jet without incident. Riff had earlier confirmed that the rocket’s second stage was approaching through orbit and was preparing to fire the engine a second time. But later he explained that it did not go as planned.
“We are looking at the information and information we have,” he added. “And we will be. Get back with you shortly with more. ”
follow up Twitter He echoed Relph’s comments from Virgin Orbit, “It looks like we have an unusual problem that has prevented us from reaching orbit.” We are reviewing the information.
Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl plane and crew returned to Earth safely after Monday’s mission, the company confirmed in a live broadcast.
The company’s stock, which was down nearly 9% during trading hours on Monday, fell another 28% after hours. As of 8:00 p.m., it was trading at just $1.40 a share.
It was Monday’s event. Targeting To mark the first successful launch from the UK, however, technically, the rocket was designed while Cosmic Girl was in flight.
The modified Boeing 747 flew to 35,000 feet (10.7 kilometers) before release of A rocket was strapped under his wing.
Virgin Orbit LauncherOne is expected to travel between 310 and 745 miles (499 and 1199 km) above Earth’s surface and then launch nine satellites into low Earth orbit.
The cause of the rocket failure is not yet known.
The launch was intended to be the first commercial satellite for Virgin Orbit – a subsidiary of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group – from Western Europe and outside the United States.
As of January 2021, the American company has made four successful launches from the Mojave Desert in California. The company has He also experienced a previous failure. Virgin Orbit’s first launch test from California in May 2020 Failed due to engine trouble.
Before the flight, Virgin Orbit chief executive Dan Hart described the UK mission as a “historic endeavour”.
“This launch represents the opening of a new era in the British space industry and new partnerships between industry, government and partners,” he said in a statement released on Friday.
The satellites on board on Monday belonged to seven customers, including private companies and government agencies. The satellites are expected to be used to combat human trafficking, smuggling and terrorism, the company said in a news release on Friday, as well as reduce the environmental impact of production.
In the year The mission, named after the 1981 Rolling Stones song “Get Me Started”, was a joint venture between Virgin Orbit, the UK Space Agency, the local government of Cornwall and the UK’s Royal Air Force.
It is expected to be a key milestone for the UK’s growing commercial satellite sector.
The country has been working on commercial spaceports for several years, hoping to grab a bigger share of the fast-growing global space market, which Morgan Stanley estimates could be worth more than $1 trillion by 2040.
The country’s £16.5 billion ($20 billion) space industry will directly support around 47,000 jobs between 2019 and 2020, according to the latest government figures.
Ian Annett, deputy chief executive of the UK space agency, said on Friday that the launch marked a “new era” for the UK space industry. [it] Hold on to the map for the first access to the small satellite plane.
“The development of new orbital launch capabilities is already delivering growth, encouraging investment and creating jobs in Cornwall and other communities across the UK,” he added.
The small satellite launch industry is a growing business worldwide, especially in the United States. Virgin Orbit is the first in a long line of startups trying to create small rockets that can orbit lightweight satellites quickly and cheaply — a Growing up A business model with dozens of global competitors. But the industry is also known to be volatile. Other smaller rocket startups, including US-based companies such as Firefly and Astra, have experienced setbacks in recent months and years.
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