Virgin Orbit’s modified Boeing 747 jet known as “Cosmic Girl” took off Monday evening from Newquay in England’s Cornwall to fly out over the Atlantic where it was attempting to launch a rocket into space. If successful, a number of civilian and military satellites with missions including Earth observation, navigation, and in-space manufacturing would of been launched into orbit.
Around two hours after the plane left the ground, Virgin Orbit announced there had been an anomaly which meant the rocket containing nine satellites was heading back down to Earth. It is expected to burn up on reentry, destroying all the satellites on board.
Matt Archer, the UK space agency launch program director, has told journalists in Newquay he’s disappointed but proud of what the mission achieved.
“The second stage engine had a technical anomaly and didn’t reach the required orbit,” he said. He didn’t give any more explanation for the failure.
Virgin Orbit and the UK government will now investigate the cause of the problem, he says.
“We’ll dust ourselves off and we’ll go again. This is what space is about – it is hard,” he said.
Virgin Orbit said, “Cosmic Girl has returned safely back to Space Cornwall with our flight crew.”