UK’S hopes of putting satellites into space ended after the anomaly prevented the rocket from reaching orbit. This was the first attempt to launch satellites from western Europe.
The UK Space Agency, The British airline, and Virgin Orbit come together in an attempt to send nine small satellites into space from a 70-foot(21-meter) rocket attached beneath the wing of a modified Boeing 747 aircraft.
The repurposed Jumbo jet was used to send a rocket into space at an altitude of 10,670 meters or 35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean in about an hour and 20 minutes after taking off from the coastal town of Newquay in Southwest England.
Virgin Orbit said the anomaly prevented the rocket from reaching space and will provide more information when possible.
UK is the second country only after the US in the number of satellites produced but they usually use foreign spaceports operated by other countries like the US and Russia in Kazakhstan to send them into space.
More than 2,000 space fans had gathered to cheer when the aircraft took off from the runway in Newquay.
Anomaly Thwarts UK Attempt To Put Satellites Into Space
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