Western Europe's first satellite launch mission takes off

The Ukraine war has highlighted the importance for tactical military purposes of smaller satellites, like those being launched from Newquay, which can get into low orbit at much shorter notice than bigger ones. The UK Space Agency said it would be a moment of national pride for Britain's growing space industry.

Virgin Orbit's "Cosmic Girl" carrier aircraft took off from Newquay's spaceport in Cornwall on Monday night, the initial stage of Western Europe's first ever satellite launch. The modified Boeing 747 with a rocket under its wing took to the air and then soared out over the Atlantic Ocean, where after an hour the LauncherOne rocket with a payload of nine small satellites will be released at 35,000 feet (10,670 meters).

Virgin Orbit, part-owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, said the satellites would be deployed into lower Earth orbit (LEO) in its first mission outside its United States base. More than 2,000 space fans cheered when the aircraft lifted from the runway in the seaside resort in southwest England.

The "horizontal" launch in Newquay - population 20,000 and famous for its reliable Atlantic waves - enabled Britain to beat Sweden, Norway and others in launching orbital satellites. Britain's Minister for Science George Freeman said it was a historic moment.

"Assuming all goes according to plan, we will have won the European Space Race and be the first country to launch satellites from Europe," he told Reuters before take-off. "We are sending a big signal tonight that we are intent on being a force in the space economy of tomorrow."

The new spaceport will launch small satellites at a critical time after the Ukraine war cut access to its use of Russian Soyuz vehicles. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket, which launches from Kourou in French Guiana, is designed to carry large satellites and has also had delays. The Ukraine war has highlighted the importance for tactical military purposes of smaller satellites, like those being launched from Newquay, which can get into low orbit at much shorter notice than bigger ones.

The UK Space Agency said it would be a moment of national pride for Britain's growing space industry. Deputy Chief Executive Ian Annett said more small satellites were built in Britain than anywhere outside of the United States, and the country hosted operation centres for companies like Inmarsat.

"So we have the full spectrum except launch," he told Reuters. "If you have launch, you have everything." The mission, called "Start Me Up" after the Rolling Stones track, will deploy breakfast cereal boxes-sized satellites to fulfil tasks such as maritime research and detecting illegal fishing, as well as national security, Virgin Orbit said.

The company has previously launched from California. Chief Executive Dan Hart said the protocols would stay the same, joking to reporters: "Pasties versus hamburgers, it's a significant shift." He added that partnerships with the UK Space Agency, Spaceport Cornwall, the British aviation regulator and the Royal Air Force had made the launch possible.

START ME UP Space enthusiasts with tickets for the launch secured positions in a viewing area as rock group Europe's "Final Countdown" blasted from loudspeakers on Monday evening.

Retired teacher Pauline Clifton, who had come from Falmouth in the south of the county, said she was always confident that the spaceport would come to fruition. "To be leading the way in anything is quite something for Cornwall," she said. Virgin Orbit's focus on LEO satellites is at the other end of the scale from the large satellites in geostationary orbit that are launched by vertical rockets.

UKSA's Annett said the LEO economy had boomed in recent years, noting Jeff Bezos' Kuiper Systems and Elon Musk's rival Starlink constellations. But he said smaller satellites were also doing vital research in climate change, and they were a growing opportunity for an industry employing 47,000 people and worth 16.5 billion pounds ($20.09 billion) a year in Britain.

Getting the mission off the ground has taken time. It was delayed from late last year due to the myriad regulatory clearances needed for the inaugural flight. ($1 = 0.8213 pounds) (Additional reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Nick Macfie, Kate Holton and Sandra Maler)

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