The United Kingdom is ready to blast off its first-ever orbital space launch on Monday.
The First Orbital Rocket Launch in Britain Is Set to Take Place
Monday's mission uses the American company, Virgin Orbit, founded by Sir Richard Branson. The repurposed Boeing 747 "Cosmic Girl" plane will take off from Newquay Airport in Cornwall in southwest England at 10.16 p.m. local time.
At around 35,000 feet, the Virgin Orbit rocket will be deployed over the Atlantic, carrying nine small satellites into orbit in what is known as a horizontal launch.
"For the first time, the UK has all the pieces of the jigsaw to be able to design and develop satellites, launch them from the UK and operate them from the UK," Josh Wester, CEO of Space Forge, told BBC News.
Among the technologies sent into space as part of the commercial launch is Oman's first satellite focusing on Earth observation and the first satellite designed and built in Wales. The other satellites are from various UK and US government departments.
The launching of rockets from British soil allows the country to "be more responsible with the ways [it's] putting products into space," Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, told the BBC's "Today" show Monday, CNBC reported.
If they encounter problems before the launch, backup launch dates have already been scheduled for later this month.
UK Mission Is Expected To Be Complexed
Virgin Orbit is based in Long Beach, California. It has carried out four successful rocket launches over the Pacific Ocean, with flights initiated from the Mojave Air and Space Port north of Los Angeles. The team has decamped to Cornwall in the United Kingdom for its mission control.
Deenah Sanchez, the launch director, expected the operation to be complex. She told BBC News that they have three different launch systems.
"We have our ground hardware, we have an entire aeroplane and a rocket, and so we have people that specialize in each area here in the control room," Sanchez said.
Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart joked that apart from the Cornish pasties versus American hamburgers, there is no difference in how the team will operate in the UK mission.
"[It's] a little different weather than Mojave, but otherwise, the team is turning the wrenches in the same way," he said.
To ensure a smooth mission, the lower deck had been stripped out to save weight because a fully fueled rocket is a heavy load. Upstairs, two flight engineers will sit at consoles to monitor the launch.
Mathew "Stanny" Stannard, an RAF squadron leader, is on secondment to Virgin Orbit and will be the lead pilot.
Stannard said they would monitor the rocket and ensure it was healthy. During the terminal count procedure, things will get more interesting as they go through a sequence of pressuring the tank and chilling the lines.
"And at the end of that terminal count, it's my job to ensure the aeroplane is at the right bit in the sky, in the right position, so when the rocket says 'I'm ready to go,' away she goes," he said.
The mission is only the beginning of the UK's future strategy for space. Scottish companies Skyrora and Orbex are working on building traditional vertical launch systems, which will operate from Shetland and Sutherland by the end of the year.
RELATED ARTICLE: Axiom Space VP Says 'Commercial Astronauts' Will Carry Out Experiments Without Annoying ISS Crew
Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.
