Science News Roundup: Astronomers discover Milky Way galaxy's most-distant stars; Britain says failed satellite launch to be probed by UK Space, U.S. FAA and more

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," it said in a stock market filing. Britain says failed satellite launch to be probed by UK Space, U.S. FAA Britain said on Friday Virgin Orbit's failed satellite launch this week would be jointly investigated by the UK Space Accident Investigation Authority (SAIA) and the United States Federal Aviation Administration.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Last year tied as world's fifth-warmest on record, U.S. scientists say

Last year was the world's joint fifth-warmest on record and the last nine years were the nine warmest since pre-industrial times, putting the 2015 Paris Agreement's goal to limit global warming to 1.5C in serious jeopardy, U.S. scientists said on Thursday. Last year tied with 2015 as the fifth-warmest year since record-keeping began in 1880, NASA said. That was despite the presence of the La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, which generally lowers global temperatures slightly.

Astronomers discover Milky Way galaxy's most-distant stars

Astronomers have detected in the stellar halo that represents the Milky Way's outer limits a group of stars more distant from Earth than any known within our own galaxy - almost halfway to a neighboring galaxy. The researchers said these 208 stars inhabit the most remote reaches of the Milky Way's halo, a spherical stellar cloud dominated by the mysterious invisible substance called dark matter that makes itself known only through its gravitational influence. The furthest of them is 1.08 million light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

Virgin Orbit aims for new UK satellite launch

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit said on Thursday it would attempt another rocket launch from Cornwall after its mission on Monday ended in failure, dashing Britain's hopes of becoming the first European nation to put satellites into orbit. "Virgin Orbit ... 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," it said in a stock market filing.

Britain says failed satellite launch to be probed by UK Space, U.S. FAA

Britain said on Friday Virgin Orbit's failed satellite launch this week would be jointly investigated by the UK Space Accident Investigation Authority (SAIA) and the United States Federal Aviation Administration. "The (UK) team will work closely with the FAA to oversee Virgin Orbit’s investigation into the cause of the anomaly. The aim will be to ensure that any relevant safety lessons are learnt," the British government said in a statement.

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