Premature Second Stage Cutoff Caused LauncherOne Failure

Virgin Orbit

LauncherOne under the wing of Virgin Orbit's 747 carrier aircraft prior to takeoff on Jan. 9.

Credit: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
LONDON—An anomaly with the Virgin Orbit LauncherOne second stage caused its first flight from the UK to fail, according to preliminary findings from investigators. Examination of the data from the Jan. 9 “Start Me Up” mission from Spaceport Cornwall, England, found that as the rocket reached 180 km...
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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