European satellite launch fails to reach orbit

The mission had left from the coastal town of Newquay in southwest England, with Virgin's LauncherOne rocket carried under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 and later released over the Atlantic Ocean.

A modified Boeing 747 with a rocket under its wing was taken off from Newquay on Monday evening, watched by crowds across the runway, before soaring out over the Atlantic where after an hour it must release a rocket at about 35,000 feet.

The "horizontal" launch will catapult the resort in southwest England, population 20,000 and famous for its reliable waves rolling off the Atlantic, into the limelight as western Europe's go-to destination for small satellites.

Virgin Orbit, part-owned by billionaire Richard Branson, said nine satellites would be deployed into lower Earth orbit (LEO) from its LauncherOne rocket in its first mission outside its United States base.

"It appears that the launch has suffered an anomaly which will prevent us from making orbit for this mission," said Virgin Orbit's director of systems engineering and verification during a live stream of the event.

The apparent failure deals a further blow to European space ambitions after an Italian-built Vega-C rocket mission failed after lift-off from French Guiana in late December.

The rockets have since been grounded.

The carrier aircraft, called "Cosmic Girl", returned to Newquay spaceport shortly after the rocket suffered the anomaly.

Before the Newquay launch, Tim Peake, Britain's first official astronaut, said the event "marks a new era" for the UK and Europe, where small satellites can now be manufactured.

“That makes it a very useful orbit for things like earth observation, climate data, weather and also intelligence gathering, communications navigation as well,” said Peake who joined the European Space Agency in 2009 to become the first astronaut representing the British government.

Peake spent half a year on the International Space Station in 2016.

The new spaceport gives Europe options for launching smaller satellites at a critical time after the Ukraine war cut access to its use of Russian Soyuz vehicles. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket, designed to carry large satellites, has also had delays.

The Ukraine war has highlighted the importance of tactical military purposes of smaller satellites, like those being launched from Newquay, which can get into low orbit at much shorter notice than bigger ones.

Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Dan Hart said the satellites - which are the size of breakfast cereal boxes - would fulfil tasks such as maritime research and detecting illegal fishing and piracy, as well as national security.

"We can all personally connect with one or more of the satellites that are flying on this mission," he told a press conference on Sunday.

Asked what the biggest difference between launching in Cornwall and California was, he joked: "Pasties versus hamburgers, it's a significant shift."

He added that partnerships with the likes of the UK Space Agency, Spaceport Cornwall, the British aviation regulator and the country's air force, had made the launch possible.