The United Kingdom is set to conduct its first orbital launch from the country as nine satellites are set to fly into space from a Boeing 747. The nine satellites will be launched from a repurposed 747 rocket over the Atlantic after it takes off from Spaceport in the UK's Cornwell.
The mission will begin at 22:16 UTC (3:46 am IST) on Tuesday. The mission, dubbed Start Me Up, is jointly being conducted by the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA), Cornwall Council, the Royal Air Force, and Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit. The aircraft will carry satellites from seven customers.
The mission has been named Start Me Up to honour the Rolling Stones' 1981 hit of the same name. It was the Stones' biggest hit of the 1980s in the United States and remains the band's last song to appear in the U.K. top 10.
Virgin Orbit said that the LauncherOne system that will conduct the mission is now mated to its carrier aircraft, a Boeing 747 dubbed Cosmic Girl, at Spaceport Cornwall, and the team has successfully completed an end-to-end launch rehearsal, taking the integrated system through to the loading of propellants and proceeding through terminal count.
"Start Me Up mission will be a mission of many firsts: the first orbital launch from the United Kingdom; the first international launch for Virgin Orbit; and the first commercial launch from western Europe; launching the first Omani satellite; the first satellite built in Wales; and more. These firsts are exciting in and of themselves, but each of them is also the first of what we hope and expect to be many," Virgin Orbit, said in a statement.
"Start Me Up mission will be a mission of many firsts: the first orbital launch from the United Kingdom; the first international launch for Virgin Orbit; and the first commercial launch from western Europe; launching the first Omani satellite; the first satellite built in Wales; and more. These firsts are exciting in and of themselves, but each of them is also the first of what we hope and expect to be many," Virgin Orbit, said in a statement.
Start Me Up will be the fifth consecutive Virgin Orbit launch to carry payloads for both private companies and government agencies. All of the prior 33 satellites were carried by LauncherOne to their precise desired orbit.
"We are entering a new era for space in the UK with the first ever satellite launch from UK soil and from Europe. This is a significant landmark for the nation, the UK Space Agency and for all those who have worked so hard over many years to make our ambitions to create a commercial space launch capability a reality," Ian Annett, Deputy CEO at the UK Space Agency, said in a statement.
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