Space company Virgin Orbit has not succeeded in getting a rocket from Western Europe into orbit around the earth. The company reported this in the night from Monday to Tuesday Twitter. Although the launch initially went off without a hitch, Virgin Orbit reported problems around 1 a.m. It is still unclear what caused the failure of the mission. The company previously reported on Twitter that the launch from Cornwall in the UK had been successful. That post was later deleted.
The converted Boeing with the 21-meter rocket from billionaire Richard Branson’s aerospace company, took off Monday night. Once it arrived at a point over the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Ireland, between 11:16 PM and 1:16 AM, the plane dropped the rocket, which ignited after 5 seconds and blasted off in a southerly direction, to deliver nine satellites to orbit . It was supposed to be the first rocket launch from Western European soil: a historic moment.
The British newspaper The Guardian reported that thousands of Britons turned out for the historic launch and that (free) tickets for a viewing deck sold out in two hours, although the public probably only got to see the plane take off. The ignition of the rocket took place at an altitude of 10 kilometers above the Atlantic Ocean. In addition, the launch could be followed via a live stream.
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