Cornwall to be home to UK's first space launch
- Published
- comments
Lots of last minute finishing touches are being made over the coming weeks, with the hopes of a launch by early December
It's been confirmed Cornwall will be home to the UK's first space launch.
The first mission - called Start Me Up - is hoping to get underway by early December 2022.
Spaceport Cornwall is working with Virgin Orbit to send a repurposed aircraft with a rocket carrying small satellites into orbit.
There are some other spaceports in the works in the UK with the hope Britain becomes a leading 'launch nation'.
It's not going to look like other space launches you might've seen from America, the Launcher One rocket will be take up into the air initially by a plane.
Preparations are being made and rehearsals are being held so the first launch goes off without a hitch.
The plan is to send a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 called Cosmic Girl up into the air carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket.
Space Hub Sutherland: based in a remote Scottish bog, it's hoping to be Britain's first 'traditional' spaceport.
SaxaVord Spaceport: another Scottish spaceport, this time in the Shetland Islands
Spaceport Snowdonia: Wales has their own one too, in the rural area of Snowdonia
Spaceport Cornwall's first mission is expected to be conducted by Virgin Orbit in the coming weeks
The plane will take off like normal and release the rocket when it's really high up in the air over the Atlantic Ocean.
That's when the rocket will ignite its engine and take some small satellites into orbit.
Experts say these new spaceports will be a really good thing for the UK space industry - until now, we've had to ship satellites to other countries in order to launch them into space.
- Published16 November 2022
- Published9 November 2022
- Published9 November 2022
