Despite the Start Me Up mission failure, the UK launch proved the Virgin Orbit model’s potential to provide responsive launch from virtually any airport capable of handling a Boeing 747.
Credit: Spaceport Cornwall
The UK has had to learn the hard way about the challenges of becoming a spacefaring nation. The Jan. 9 loss of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne and its payload of nine satellites on its first flight from a UK spaceport represents a frustrating bump in the road for the country’s space ambitions, not to...
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