After nine long years, Cornwall's ambitions to be the first UK site to launch into space became a reality on a dark wintry Monday night in January.
It ultimately ended in failure when an 'anomaly' was detected as the rocket, travelling at a speed of more than 11,000 miles per hour, was in the process of firing its second stage engine.
Virgin Orbit said that its Launcher One rocket with a payload of nine satellites did successfully reach space but failed to orbit.
The rocket and the satellites burned up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
Melissa Thorpe, Chief Executive of Spaceport Cornwall said that the failure of the mission was "gutting", but it's not the end.
And Virgin Orbit has said in its latest statement that it 'anticipates returning to Spaceport Cornwall for additional launches, and is in active discussions with key government and commercial stakeholders in the UK to start planning mission opportunities for as soon as later this year.'
We take a look at what happens next for Cornwall and the businesses and organisations involved.
Spaceport Cornwall
The road to creating the UK's first licensed space port has been nine years in the making and its development is set to continue.
As news of the first failed attempt sunk in, she told reporters that she was hopeful of another launch this year.
She added: “We are so incredibly proud of everything we have achieved with our partners and friends across the space industry here in the UK and in the US – we made it to space – a UK first. Unfortunately we learned that Virgin Orbit experienced an anomaly which means we didn’t achieve a successful mission. Today we inspired millions, and we will continue to look to inspire millions more. Not just with our ambition but also with our fortitude. Yes, space is hard, but we are only just getting started.”
The ambition is to keep going.
Alongside Virgin Orbit, the Spaceport has signed an MOU agreement exploring the possibility of Sierra Space's winged space plane Dream Chaser using the runway on its missions.
The Dream Chaser flies back to Earth on return from its missions after first entering space via a rocket launch.
Spaceport Cornwall has a goal of launching around eight times a year, offering a 'red carpet regulated service' to its partners.
The successful launch of the Virgin Orbit #StartMeUp mission is proof that Spaceport Cornwall can do it.
Matt Archer, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at the UK Space Agency, said: "The project has succeeded in creating a horizontal launch capability at Spaceport Cornwall and we remain committed to becoming the leading provider of commercial small satellite launch in Europe by 2030, with vertical launches planned from Scotland in the next year."
READ MORE: 'Kids believe it more than adults': What's next after Cornwall's first space launch
The space industry in Cornwall
Around the Spaceport, a cluster of likeminded businesses is growing, with the data and space sectors set to play a key part in growing the Cornwall economy over the next 10 years.
While in the early days, Cornwall's ambitions were laughed at, it has successfully become a Spaceport where once there was just a spare slab of concrete.
Stuart Elford, Chairman of British Chambers of Commerce South West (BCCSW) said that the mission has already accomplished so much for Cornwall and the wider region.
He said: "The project is inspirational and Spaceport Cornwall is leading the way in trying to achieve sustainable launches for satellites that will help protect the planet’s environment.
"Higher paid jobs, valuable local supply chains and the attention of the world have already been brought to the South West and we must continue to support this important project.”
While it is disappointing that the satellites didn’t get into orbit, there is still so much to be proud of and I have no doubt that there will be ultimate mission success."
Around the Spaceport, a cluster of likeminded businesses is growing, with the data and space sectors set to play a key part in growing the Cornwall economy over the next 10 years.
Its outreach programme has reached every primary school in Cornwall and the aim is to fill the supply chain with home grown talent, it has partnership with the University of Exeter, Cornwall College and Truro and Penwith College, which has established its own science and space training programme.
Cornwall Space Cluster believe that the Space and Data sector could bring £1bn economic value to the economy by 2030.
What next for Virgin Orbit?
Out of five LauncherOne missions carrying payloads for private companies and governmental agencies, this is the first to fall short of delivering its payloads to their precise target orbit.
Virgin Orbit will now work with the UK Space Agency to find out what went wrong.
But the mission has been praised for achieving ' numerous significant first-time achievements', and demonstrated that space launch is achievable from UK soils, said Dan Hart, Virgin Orbit Chief Executive.
He said: “While we are very proud of the many things that we successfully achieved as part of this mission, we are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve.
"The first-time nature of this mission added layers of complexity that our team professionally managed through; however, in the end a technical failure appears to have prevented us from delivering the final orbit.
"We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process.”
In its latest statement, Virgin Orbit said it is continuing with its next mission from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
However, the statement reads: "Virgin Orbit also anticipates returning to Spaceport Cornwall for additional launches, and is in active discussions with key government and commercial stakeholders in the UK to start planning mission opportunities for as soon as later this year."
What about the satellite firms?
There were nine satellites lost in the mission. The satellites were insured, reports the BBC, so their manufacturers and operators will be compensated.
Read more: List of first UK space satellites, the firms behind them and what they're for
Among them were national and international satellites for weather, earth observation and reconnaissance for the Ministry Of Defence, the Sultanate of Oman's first satellite, the first Welsh-manufactured satellite by start-up Space Forge, and the Dover Pathfinder. Developed by RHEA Group and built by Open Cosmos at the Harwell Space Cluster, Oxfordshire, the satellite aimed to provide data from space that can be used to obtain a position or an accurate time.
In a statement, Open Cosmos said: "Despite the successful take off and rocket ignition, Virgin Orbit reported an anomaly in the second stage that did not allow the 9 satellites onboard to be deployed. While disappointed by the result, we remain proud of the work done by the team and entire UK space sector."
Space Forge - the firm behind Wales' first satellite - has spoken out about its disappointment at the failed satellite launch.
Co-founder and chief executive of the Cardiff startup, Joshua Western, said in a statement: "Our pain is shared across the other payloads, the team at Spaceport Cornwall, and Virgin Orbit."
He added that Space Forge's next mission, ForgeStar-1, is nearing build completion.
"We'll be launching it later this year. It's a far more capable mission being both a demonstration of in-space manufacturing, and our first return attempt," he said.
And he reiterated his commitment to a UK launch: "Nobody ever said it would be easy, but everyone says it will be worth it. We will continue to support launch from the UK and a ForgeStar platform will launch from here."
In a tweet,UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), joint operator behind the CIRCE satellite mission with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and joint operator behind the Prometheus-2 satellite, said: "We are saddened at the loss of Launcher One and share the disappointment of all who have worked so hard to get us this far
" We will work with our partners to enable continuation of our research programme This is poignant reminder that working in the space domain is difficult."
READ MORE:
