Thread: Spaceport Cornwall : First Orbital Space Launch From UK Approaches!

BBC is reporting that "LauncherOne", Virgin Orbit's rocket for orbital launches has arrived from California and is being prepared for flight at Spaceport Cornwall*.

The rocket will be carrying nine satellites to place into low earth orbit. The flight is expected some time next month.


"Virgin Orbit rocket arrives for first space launch from UK"

* https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63269429

BBC has released an article detailing the payload of Virgin Orbit's plan to launch satellites from a spaceport in Cornwall*. It will be the first time a launch from the UK has placed assets into orbit. There are nine cubesats for this mission, and they will be involved in a number of activities. The Launcher One rocket, which is to deliver these satellites, is expected to launch sometime in the "next few weeks".


"Cornwall space mission: Satellites prepared for first UK orbital launch"

* https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63562005

SpaceX had a few failures.
This one near Cape Wrath also sounds interesting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutherland_spaceport

What a view might you have from Ben Hope, the most northerly Munro.

Originally Posted by ox

SpaceX had a few failures.

They have all had failures, and will continue to do so. Nature of the biz. High risks, high rewards.

This is only the start, and a new launch system is most likely to cause trouble. There should be many successful launches in the future.

My gut feeling was - is it going to work?
Felt sure they knew what they were doing. They must have done the maths.
Is there information on horizontal launches being reliable?

https://www.space.com/virgin-orbit-r...-reentry-video

Originally Posted by ox

My gut feeling was - is it going to work?
Felt sure they knew what they were doing. They must have done the maths.

Exact maths don't always transfer to the mechanics. One minor construction error and it's all over but the crying. Very demanding tech to be sure.

LauncherOne has had a number of successful flights before. Prior success is clearly no certainty for any future launch.

But failure is going to happen to some extent for everyone trying to reach space :


"10 Rocket Launch Failures That Changed History"

https://www.popularmechanics.com/spa...unch-failures/