Britain failed in space: the satellites did not go into orbit

A “historic” space mission in the UK ended in complete fiasco due to the fact that the satellites could not go into orbit. The rocket carrying the first satellites launched from British soil failed to reach orbit and was lost.

To the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd who gathered at the Cornwall launch site to watch the launch, a converted Boeing 747 called Cosmic Girl took off on Monday evening and headed across the Atlantic, writes The Guardian. The airliner successfully launched its rocket, called LauncherOne, with a payload of nine satellites off the south coast of Ireland.

But shortly thereafter, the Virgin Orbit Corporation, which leads the mission, announced that an “anomaly” had occurred and the rocket was unable to gain the required altitude.

The rocket and satellites were lost, but the British Space Agency insists they pose no danger and were expected to burn out or crash over the North Atlantic. The Boeing 747 returned safely to Cornwall.

Matt Archer, director of commercial spaceflight at the UK Space Agency, said he was extremely disappointed that the mission was not a success, but still pleased that the first satellite launch from Europe took place from British soil.

According to him, the first part of the two-stage rocket launch was successful, but the second stage failed, and although the rocket reached space, it did not gain the required height and did not reach orbit.

“We don’t know what caused the anomaly, but we got it going,” says Matt Archer. “Many positive results have been achieved. Space is not easy. We knew it was fraught with failure. Launches don’t always work. We have created the conditions for the launch here. We have shown that we can do it and we will try to do it again”

Archer confirmed that the rocket and satellites were lost. He said the missile’s flight path suggested that there would be no risk to humans. “The flight path is over bodies of water, so it’s completely safe,” he said.

The British Space Agency was proud of the prospect of the UK launching the first satellites in Europe. Archer insisted, “We launched. There are many positives. We will move it forward.”

The Start Me Up mission has been heralded as the beginning of a new space age for the UK. The Cosmic Girl, piloted by RAF test pilot Matthew Stannard, took off just after 10 p.m. and performed a “fin wiggle” to clear ice from a LauncherOne rocket over the Atlantic.

When the forward signal came at 11:10, LauncherOne was released at an altitude of 10,700 meters.

Virgin Orbit originally tweeted, “LauncherOne… has successfully reached Earth Orbit! Our mission is not over yet, but we congratulate the people of Great Britain! This is already the first ever orbital mission from British soil – a huge achievement.”

Twenty-eight minutes later, a less optimistic post appeared on Twitter: “Looks like we have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating this information.” The previous tweet has been deleted.

Melissa Thorpe, Head of Spaceport Cornwall, expressed her disappointment but added: “We are a cheerful team. This isn’t the first time we’ve been kicked out of the saddle, but it’s definitely the biggest. We will get up and go again.”

British astronaut Tim Peake tweeted: “Very disappointing but getting into space is difficult and valuable lessons will be learned.”

So far, the UK has been strong at making satellites and interpreting the data they provide, but has failed to launch them. Among those whose satellites were supposed to go into orbit are the UK Department of Defense, the Sultanate of Oman, the US National Reconnaissance Office and British startups, including Space Forge, which develops reusable satellites. The space agency said that the issue of compensation for the loss of satellites will be decided by Virgin Orbit.