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Space: what goes up might come down
ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and JOEL HELLEWELL look at how British space technology came to be run by private companies like Virgin, despite a strong start with the state-built Goonhilly Earth Station in the 1960s
MISSION FAILED: A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 carrying a rocket, seen here parked at Spaceport Cornwall, was unsuccessful in its attempt to deliver several small satellites into space last week

LAST week, the anticipated launch of the first satellites from Spaceport Cornwall failed. The launch technology involves a modified Boeing 747 plane with a launcher rocket fired from its wing at 35,000 feet.

The rocket successfully ignited and left the wing over the Atlantic Ocean south-west of Ireland, but an “anomaly” with the second-stage engine meant the satellites were lost with the rocket. 

The launch had been heavily anticipated as a key moment for the British space industry. Though it may be entertaining to enjoy the public failure of a company associated with Richard Branson, that shouldn’t obscure the fact that this attempt was a part of a dramatic shift currently under way in space transport.

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
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