Jumbo jet to launch UK's first rocket into space

The jumbo pitchy that volition motorboat the UK's archetypal rocket into abstraction has arrived astatine Cornwall's Newquay airport.

Cosmic Girl, a erstwhile Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747, has carried much than 2.5 cardinal passengers connected astir 8,300 flights.

But present the seats person been ripped out, the precocious platform has been converted into a power centre for motorboat engineers and a 21m (69ft) rocket slots nether its near wing.

The pitchy is operated by Virgin Orbit and is owed to instrumentality disconnected from Spaceport Cornwall, which is based astatine the airport, aboriginal adjacent month.

The LauncherOne rocket volition beryllium released astatine an altitude of 35,000ft implicit the Atlantic Ocean. It volition past accelerate to 8,000mph earlier deploying 7 satellites into orbit.

Melissa Thorpe, caput of Spaceport Cornwall, said the aircraft's accomplishment had followed 8 years of hard work.

"A converted 747 utilizing a converted airdrome to get to abstraction is simply a cleanable illustration of what we are moving to execute astatine Spaceport Cornwall," she said.

"By making usage of existing assets we privation to acceptable the barroom for liable launch, with 'space for good' astatine its core."

The Start Me Up ngo is seen arsenic a elephantine leap for the rapidly increasing UK abstraction industry.

Most of the satellites person been built successful Britain and are being loaded into the rocket this week successful a super-clean hanger astatine the spaceport.

They see a prototype orbiting mill for making high-value alloys and semiconductors, constructed connected a Welsh concern parkland by Space Forge.

Another, called IOD-3 Amber and designed by Horizon Technologies, volition signifier portion of a constellation of satellites monitoring amerciable fishing, smuggling, trafficking, piracy and terrorism.

Lucy Edge, main operations serviceman astatine Satellite Applications Catapult, said the UK had a beardown way grounds successful gathering innovative satellites.

"This motorboat from UK ungraded marks the commencement of the adjacent large signifier successful the UK's abstraction story, unlocking commercialized entree to abstraction from our ain backmost gardens," she said.

So-called horizontal rocket launches from craft request small crushed infrastructure and are little babelike connected the weather. Previous Virgin Orbit missions person been successful the United States.

Construction of 2 accepted rocket motorboat pads is underway successful bluish Scotland and connected the Shetland Islands.