A premature shutdown in the rocket during the first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the UK was behind the mission failure, Virgin Orbit has said. After taking off from Spaceport Cornwall, the Virgin Orbit plane flew to 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean, where it jettisoned the rocket containing nine small satellites towards space. […]
![Virgin Orbit: Premature shutdown during rocket launch saw failure of UK mission A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, takes off from Spaceport Cornwall at Cornwall Airport, Newquay. The plane will carry the rocket to 35,000ft where it will be released over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland, as part of the Start Me Up mission and the first rocket launch from UK. Picture date: Monday January 9, 2023.](https://technology.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/featureimage-10-scaled-140x140.jpg)