LauncherOne Failure Stumbles UK Launch Ambitions

Virgin Orbit

Despite the Start Me Up mission failure, the UK launch proved the Virgin Orbit model’s potential to provide responsive launch from virtually any airport capable of handling a Boeing 747.

Credit: Spaceport Cornwall
The UK has had to learn the hard way about the challenges of becoming a spacefaring nation. The Jan. 9 loss of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne and its payload of nine satellites on its first flight from a UK spaceport represents a frustrating bump in the road for the country’s space ambitions, not to...
Tony Osborne

Based in London, Tony covers European defense programs. Prior to joining Aviation Week in November 2012, Tony was at Shephard Media Group where he was deputy editor for Rotorhub and Defence Helicopter magazines.

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