UK space launch crew say they’re ‘gutted’ after historic mission suffers an ‘anomaly’
The crew behind an historic rocket launch from UK soil have vowed to bounce back after their highly anticipated space mission ended in failure.
LauncherOne suffered an “anomaly” in its bid to reach orbit on Monday night, after being carried skyward from Spaceport Cornwall by a converted jumbo jet named Cosmic Girl.
Relive UK’s historic space mission as it happened
There was raucous applause and cheering among the 2,000 lucky ticketholders in attendance in Newquay when the former Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 took off just after 10pm.
The sound of The Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up – after which the mission was named – pumped out of several loudspeakers, drowning out the crowds.
But excitement turned to disappointment when launch operator Virgin Orbit revealed that the rocket had failed to deploy its payload of nine satellites.
“We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit,” it announced.
“We are evaluating the information.”
What went wrong?
It is understood that LauncherOne encountered problems during its second stage after release from Cosmic Girl.
The rocket dropped from the aircraft 35,000ft above the Atlantic, off Ireland’s southern coast, just before 11.15pm.
The first stage – which sees the spacecraft burst into life after about four seconds before accelerating to more than 8,000 miles per hour – appeared to proceed accordingly.
A short while later, the second stage was supposed to eject the nine onboard satellites into orbit – and this is the vital moment where the as-yet-undefined “anomaly” is thought to have occurred.
Virgin Orbit reported the issue about half an hour after the rocket dropped from the plane.
Cosmic Girl took off from Newquay at just gone 10pm
Matt Archer, from the UK Space Agency, said the precise cause was still under investigation.
“In effect, the rocket has not reached the required altitude to maintain its orbit or deploy the satellites,” he said.
The second stage needed to put the rocket some 500km above the Earth – its path would then have taken it to the opposite side of the planet, releasing the satellites in low orbit over Australia.
Mr Archer said the outcome was “obviously disappointing” and that an investigation would take place, involving the government and agencies including Virgin Orbit.
“We knew this had a risk of failure,” he added.
“Launches don’t always work. We’ll pick up with Virgin Orbit and think about what happens next.”
Read more:
‘Space is hard’: Crowds look on bright side after launch disappointment
Thousands of people were at the spaceport for the launch
‘We’re feeling awful – but we’ll go again’
Melissa Thorpe, the head of Spaceport Cornwall, which is the UK’s first licenced spaceport, admitted that there were “tears” when LauncherOne’s issue emerged.
“We’re feeling awful, to be honest – I’m not going to lie,” she said.
“It’s gutting, and we all heard at different times. When we got together, there were tears, and it was very upsetting.”
But she added: “This isn’t the first time we’ve been knocked.
“This is the biggest definitely, but I feel okay, and we’ll get up, and we’ll go again.”
Spaceport Cornwall has been earmarked as a major hub for future launches – Monday night’s should have been the first time satellites had ever been fired into space from Western Europe, let alone the UK.
But Ms Thorpe couldn’t confirm whether the spaceport would see another launch attempt in 2023.
In more positive news, Cosmic Girl did successfully land back in Newquay shortly before midnight, and was once again greeted with applause.
The somewhat surreal picture of a UK space launch being prepared
What kind of satellites were being deployed?
Unlike the large satellites taken into space by vertical rocket launches, like those carried out by NASA and SpaceX, Virgin Orbit was dealing with far smaller hardware.
Only about the size of a cereal box, the satellites were set to perform a range of tasks in space, such as maritime research and detecting illegal fishing and piracy, as well as national security.
They are also used for climate change observation.
Slowly but surely, Earth’s lower orbit is becoming much more crowded, as companies from Amazon to UK-based satellite company Iridium all hold a presence.
So too does Elon Musk’s satellite broadband company Starlink.
LauncherOne’s satellites would have played a key role for the UK, while the rocket itself was projected to burn up before landing in water back on Earth.
People came from far and wide to watch the launch – some brought deck chairs
‘A hollow victory’
While it failed to deploy its satellites, Start Me Up was still the first orbital rocket launch from UK soil.
However, Sky News science correspondent Thomas Moore said the “huge disappointment” of the mission’s finale could only be seen as a “hollow victory”.
“This […] once again proves that space is hard, and that however good our engineering, it can sometimes fail.”
In addition to the 2,000 people at the spaceport, the official livestream of the event peaked at 75,000 viewers – and 142,000 enthusiasts helped make Cosmic Girl the most-tracked aircraft on Flightradar24.
The sense of awe and excitement was palpable throughout and undeniable even given the heartache at the end.
“It’s been a big deal for Cornwall and a big deal for the airport,” one woman at the spaceport told Sky News.
“Fingers crossed for take two.”
UK
Starmer urges anyone with information on Epstein case to come forward – after Andrew misses Congress deadline
Sir Keir Starmer has urged anyone with information on the Jeffrey Epstein case to come forward after Andrew Mountbatten Windsor missed the deadline to appear in front of US Congress.
US legislators have criticised Andrew for what they describe as “silence” amid their probe into Epstein after he failed to respond to their request for an interview.
When asked about Andrew missing the deadline and whether the former prince should help the case in any way he can, Sir Keir said on his way to the G20 summit in South Africa: “I don’t comment on this particular case.”
He added that “a general principle I’ve held for a very long time is that anybody who has got relevant information in relation to these kind of cases should give that evidence to those that need it”.
Andrew is not legally obliged to talk to Congress and has always vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
Sir Keir Starmer spoke to reporters on his way to the G20 in South Africa. Pic: Reuters
It comes as Marjorie Taylor Greene, a loyal supporter-turned-critic of US President Donald Trump, said on Friday she is resigning from Congress in January.
Ms Greene’s resignation followed a public falling-out with Mr Trump in recent months, as the congresswoman criticised him for his stance on files related to Epstein, as well as on foreign policy and healthcare.
Members of the House Oversight Committee had requested a “transcribed interview” with Andrew in connection with his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein, the paedophile financier who took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
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Releasing the Epstein files: How we got here
But after saying they had not heard back, Democrats Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyam accused Andrew of hiding.
Their statement read: “Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s silence in the face of the Oversight Democrat’s demand for testimony speaks volumes.
“The documents we’ve reviewed, along with public records and Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s testimony, raise serious questions he must answer, yet he continues to hide.
“Our work will move forward with or without him, and we will hold anyone who was involved in these crimes accountable, no matter their wealth, status, or political party. We will get justice for the survivors.”
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The new Epstein files: The key takeaways
It follows Andrew being stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles earlier this month.
He had previously agreed to stop using his titles, but had expected to remain a prince and retain his dukedom, ahead of the publication of the memoirs of the late Ms Giuffre, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager – an accusation he denies.
A 13-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a woman in Swindon.
Police said the teenager was detained following an incident in Baydon Close, Moredon, in the Wiltshire town on Friday evening.
Officers responded to reports of disorder inside a house. When they arrived, a woman in her 50s living at the address was found to be not breathing. She was declared dead at the scene.
There were no other reported injuries.
Forensic officers are at the scene to collect evidence
Detective Inspector Darren Ambrose, from Wiltshire Police’s major crime investigation team, said: “This is a serious incident in which a woman has sadly died.
“We have set up a cordon at the address while an investigation is carried out.
“I can confirm that we have arrested a teenage girl in connection with this incident and we are not looking for anyone else.”
Police have asked people not to speculate about the incident online as this could prejudice the case.
A police statement read: “Residents can expect to see an increased police presence in the area while we continue carrying out our enquiries into the woman’s death.
“The suspect remains in custody at this time.”
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Police said anyone with concerns should speak with their local neighbourhood policing team, either by emailing or approaching officers in person.
Rail fares are to be frozen for the first time in 30 years, the government has announced.
Ministers promised that millions of rail travellers will save hundreds of pounds on regulated fares, including season tickets and peak and off-peak returns between major cities.
The fare freeze applies to England and services run by English train operators.
People commuting to work three days a week using flexi-season tickets will save £315 a year travelling from Milton Keynes to London, £173 travelling from Woking to London and £57 from Bradford to Leeds, the government said.
The changes are part of Labour’s plans to rebuild a publicly owned Great British Railways. Other planned changes include tap in-tap out and digital ticketing, as well as investing in superfast Wi-Fi.
The freeze applies to regulated fares, including season tickets and peak and off-peak returns. Pic: iStock
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government was introducing a freeze on rail fares for the first time in 30 years, which “will ease the pressure on household finances and make travelling to work, school or to visit friends and family that bit easier”.
“We all want to see cheaper rail travel, so we’re freezing fares to help millions of passengers save money,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
“Commuters on more expensive routes will save more than £300 per year, meaning they keep more of their hard-earned cash.”
Rail unions and passenger groups welcomed the move, praising how it will make travel more affordable for passengers and promote more sustainable travel alternatives.
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Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: “More affordable fares will encourage greater use of public transport, supporting jobs, giving a shot in the arm to local economies and helping to improve the environment.”
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the rail fare freeze “will be a huge relief to working people”.
“This is the right decision, at the right time, to help passengers be able to afford to make that journey they need to take, and to help grow our railway in this country, because the railway is Britain’s green alternative – taking cars and lorries off our congested roads and moving people and goods safely around our country in an environmentally-friendly way,” Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers union Aslef, said.
The Tories welcomed the move but said the government was “late to the platform”.
Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said: “In government, the Conservatives kept fares on the right track with below-inflation rises and consistently called for no further hikes to protect hard-working commuters.”
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