The first orbiting satellites to depart into space from Western Europe will be launched on Monday from Cornwall in southwest England.
Virgin Orbit – partly owned by billionaire Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic airline – plans to use a modified Boeing 747 with a rocket mounted under the wings for the first time outside the facility. company in the United States.
Once the plane is at an altitude of about 10,670 meters (35,000 feet), the rocket will be launched across the Atlantic, carrying small satellites from seven customers into orbit in what is known as a horizontal launch.
The mission was given a window to take off from 10:16 p.m. (2216 GMT) but that depends on weather and other system and scheduling issues. Virgin Orbit says there are backup dates in mid and late January.
“Obviously you want the best possible weather to make sure the system is working at its best and getting the satellites exactly where they need to go,” said Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall.
‘Wet suit rehearsal’
A successful ground test known as a “wet maneuver”, which involves refueling a rocket inside a special safe zone, was held on Thursday.
The idea of launching rockets from a converted jet, pioneered by Orbital Science in the 1990s, is designed to provide a flexible and low-cost route to orbit when the number of satellites is small in the sky. Earth’s low orbit increased dramatically.
The mission highlights a small launch field that is emerging just as Europe faces a growing crisis caused by the Ukraine war, which has cut off access to Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft. There are also delays with the Ariane 6 rocket, which is being developed for the European Space Agency, and the landing of the Vega rocket following a failed launch last month.
Britain has a large space industry, employing 47,000 people. They build more satellites than anywhere outside the United States, but they must send them to spaceports in the United States, French Guiana, or Kazakhstan before they can be put into orbit.
Britain plans two vertical micro-launch sites in Scotland but now faces competition from Scandinavia and Germany in a new market for mini-launchers carrying miniature payloads to low Earth orbit . It believes it has an edge in this space race because it is closer to less congested oceanic airspace.
Even so, the Virgin Orbit launch was delayed in part due to the legal formalities required for the first flight.
“When you look at how the low-Earth orbit economy is evolving, that’s where people are finding ways to put their satellites whether it’s for climate change, observation or urban development. or indeed for security purposes,” Ian Annett, Deputy Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency told Reuters news agency.
“Access to low Earth orbit by micro-launches is certainly not a static market,” he said. “It’s one that’s continuing to grow.”
The European Space Agency recently approved the use of small launchpads for a number of missions, although commentators such as Peter de Selding, co-founder of SpaceIntelReport.com, have questioned whether there is enough demand. in Europe for many types or not.
The rural Cornwall Cosmodrome is located at a regional passenger airport in Newquay and was approved late last year.
The mission is called Start Me Up after a Rolling Stones song that was released on Virgin’s sister record label and is a joint project with the UK Space Agency, Cornwall Council and the Royal Air Force. British family.
The missile and its supporting equipment were flown to the UK for assembly in Cornwall.
Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart told Reuters: “Basically, within a matter of weeks, a blank cement slab has become a hub for the operations of space launches.
Now, Virgin Orbit hopes the launch will demonstrate the global reach of the 747-based system beyond traditional launchers. It says it is under discussion to adopt the same blueprint in Australia, Japan and elsewhere.
“This activity opens the door to space launch in the UK, but it also opens up the idea that space launches don’t necessarily have to be concentrated in a few places in the world,” said Hart. gender.
Analysts say that could stimulate the need for national security and create a flexible launch network to quickly fill gaps in times of conflict – a need highlighted by the conflict. Ukraine war.
But de Selding warns that controlling costs in the already economically strained space launch sector will be crucial.
