Forget Cape Canaveral, coastal Cornwall will make UK space history this summer when the first satellite launch will be carried into space on board a Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:VORB) rocket as part of the Prometheus-2 project.
The UK Space Agency said the launch would advertise the UK's capability to provide small satellite launch services just as demand from satellite and other space-tech companies rockets and supply is squeezed as many companies eschew Russian providers due to the war in Ukraine.
Virgin Orbit's Launcher One rocket will leave Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay with two Prometheus-2 shoebox-sized micro-satellites on board, depositing them in low Earth orbit, around 550km above the Earth.
The 'cubesats' were built by Hampshire-based In-Space Missions and designed in collaboration with Airbus as part of the Prometheus-2 project, where the UK Ministry of Defence is collaborating with international partners to test whether this can enable a "more capable and flexible system at a lower cost" than if it worked alone.
As well as carrying technology to monitoring radio signals including GPS and sophisticated imaging, the cubsats will also house equipment to act as a 'pathfinder' for the planned Minerva constellation for future space-based intelligence and surveillance.
"Being able to launch from the UK and across Europe for the first time will boost our satellite industry further, create high skilled jobs across the country and deliver a key ambition of the National Space Strategy," said UK Space Agency deputy chief executive Ian Annett.
The launch will put the UK at the forefront of small satellite launch, he added.
Defence procurement minister Jeremy Quin said the launch also represented an "important step forward for our homegrown space programme" and "paves the way for the UK to become a more resilient, more robust and more significant global space entity".
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket is first carried into the sky by a modified Boeing 747 jet, named Cosmic Girl, before the rocket unclips and takes off horizontally to carry its payloads into place.
Cosmic Girl and LauncherOne have carried out three successful commercial launches so far, after an unsuccessful test flight in May 2020.
Separately, Virgin Orbit, which is part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, said it preparing for its next launch this summer from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, which will support the US Space Force’s STP-28A mission and be the company's first night mission.
Virgin Orbit is also buying two more Boeing 747 aeroplanes to carry its satellites into space, it announced on Tuesday.
This will be in partnership with L3Harris Technologies, the company that outfitted Cosmic Girl for its current role.