UPI By Clyde Hughes & Sheri Walsh
After a successful launch from Britain on Monday, Virgin Orbit confirmed its rocket carrying nine satellites failed to reach orbit, ending its “Start Me Up” mission shortly after it began.
Virgin Orbit touted its successful launch Monday evening for Britain’s first-ever orbital space launch from its own soil. The private-public joint collaboration led by Virgin Orbit was supposed to deliver satellites into space
The mission launched at 10:02 p.m. local time, at Spaceport Cornwall in southwest England, to the 1981 Rolling Stones song “Start Me Up.” Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system, which was attached to a modified Boeing 747-400 nicknamed “Cosmic Girl,” took off right on schedule into the night sky.
