Space exploration continues at full speed and we see many companies entering the race. United Kingdom, by the way Virgo orbit Already on January 9, if everything goes according to plan, it will see its first space flight.
This first flight will be part of the mission Get me started It will launch seven more customer satellites.
In a few days, the first orbital spaceflight from the United Kingdom will take place, specifically from Spaceport Cornwall. This is a historic Virgin Orbit Mission, "Start Me Up", which will take place on Monday 9 January at 22:16 UTC. In case the release has to be postponed due to technical issues or inclement weather, the company has scheduled a series of dates throughout the month.
A historic moment for the UK and Virgin Orbit
Virgin Orbit is working with the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA), Cornwall Council and the Royal Air Force on this mission, and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has approved the necessary permits for Virgin Orbit to carry out launch operations in the UK in December. Following the approval of Spaceport Cornwall's first launch permit.
task Get me started It was a "first" in many ways, notably because it was Virgin Orbit's first international release and first commercial release in Western Europe. The private space agency said it would "maintain a conservative stance regarding system integrity, weather and other programming elements." This increases the likelihood of delays if Virgin Orbit doesn't sort everything out by Monday to reach its destination.
The LauncherOne orbital launch vehicle used for the mission, Cosmic Girl, is attached to a Boeing 747 aircraft that will serve as the launch pad for the first stage. The company had to transport LauncherOne, manufactured in Long Beach, California, to the UK to make the trip possible.
Small-actually, big-rocket 🚀 in preparation for our first overseas launch #StartMeUp, we had to find a way to safely transport our rocket around the world. Tap to see LauncherOne's journey @spacecornwall: https://t.co/Tu5BYrZgyX
— Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit) January 5, 2023
In addition to the historic moment, the mission will also carry seven customer satellites into orbit, both commercial and government. Its payload included CIRCE (Integrated Ionospheric Reconnaissance CubeSat Experiment), a joint project between the UK Defense Science and Technology Laboratory and the US Naval Research Laboratory, and two CubeSats for the UK Ministry of Defence's Prometheus-2 initiative.
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