Cornwall prepares to launch as Europe’s first satellite launch that will go down in space history

It may not be at Cape Canaveral and it won’t launch a 100m vertical rocket from Earth, but what happens in Cornwall will go down in European space history.

The team behind the launch of the first satellite from UK territory spoke about their excitement as they prepared for the launch.

Cornwall’s Newquay Airport is making final preparations before launching nine satellites tonight under the wing of Virgin Orbit’s giant 747.

Barring weather and technology issues, today’s launch will take place at Cornwall as part of the Start Me Up mission.

Cornwall director Melissa Thorpe said she “tolerated for years how people laughed at the prospect of space launches from Newquay” but now “we are sitting here fully focused on making the first ever satellite launch from Europe to… Everybody”.

“This is very important for the British aerospace industry and it will be great for Cornwall. Despite the skepticism, I always knew that we would achieve this with the incredible team that we have here in Newquay.”

The first historical mission window opens tonight at 10:16 pm, with additional backup dates continuing through mid to late January.

Watching from the Gunhilly earth station in Cornwall, the team on the ground will know if all the satellites have successfully launched about an hour after launch.

The mission includes a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 named after The Rolling Stones’ 1981 hit “Cosmic Girl” and Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket.

Cosmic Girl will launch from Newquay at 10:16 p.m., with a rocket launch between 10:54 p.m. and 11:54 p.m. at 35,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean in southern Ireland.

When the plane returns to the spaceport, the rocket will start the engine and put into orbit small satellites for various civil and military purposes, which will be the first satellites launched from Europe.

Spaceport Boss Proves Sexist Twitter Trolls And Her Teacher Wrong

Melissa Thorpe used to be skeptical that Cornwall would become Europe’s first satellite launch site.

As director of Cornwall’s Newquay launch site, she has never bothered about the doubters, and on the eve of realizing her ambitions, she will prove those critics wrong.

What caused excitement and anger to some extent were those who doubted that she could make Cornwall a European space center just because she was a woman.

“Sometimes it gets personal,” Ms Thorp says. “Interesting, isn’t it? Especially for me, being one of the few female leaders of something like this anywhere in the world creates an interesting dynamic where people often comment and maybe not quite understand the role of space in today’s world.” “.

Does she say she’s experienced misogyny on social media and elsewhere? I bet it’s her.

“Oh, of course, a lot of things. “People ask me as a mother, they ask me about what I wear. I am constantly asked about my age and appearance.

So two fingers on the trolls.

“Yeah, but I just deliver and I love to surprise people. I do it my way.”

Growing up in a remote part of British Columbia, the vastness of the Canadian sky inspired her to get to where she is today, where she is in charge of what is currently the only spaceport in the UK.

“I’ve been lucky enough to grow up with northern lights quite often in the winter,” she says. “I think for me it was more of amazement at what was happening there.

“What are people doing there? What will we see there? What will we find there?”

But even before the social media abuse, there were others who believed she would make it in the aerospace industry.

“Unfortunately, I had a teacher who, when I said that I was interested in astronomy, told me that there was no future in it and that I should think about doing something else. So ha! I’m here.”

Not only does she lure Virgin Orbit to Cornwall (getting more ads from commercial launch operators along the way), but she believes a big part of her job is to get girls interested in the sector.

“Never let a teacher say that to kids,” she says. “Just show them that you absolutely can do something like that, especially girls.

“I myself have two daughters, and I see that sometimes they are treated differently than boys, and this is not normal. enter the space industry.

In the past, British-made satellites had to be sent to foreign launch sites to begin their journey in space.

Takeoff was originally scheduled to take place before Christmas but had to be delayed due to technical and regulatory issues.

Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said: “We knew this was not going to be a cakewalk when we jumped at the opportunity. We work closely with the UK Space Agency, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Cornwall spaceport, as well as with the international aerospace community.

“I think we have learned a lot from this. I think, like every time, the first time is difficult, the second time you already know and you can predict it.

“We’re excited to be here and we look forward to the future and will be back for a relaunch later this year.”

Ian Annette, deputy director general of the UK space agency, also described his “extreme excitement”.

“Who wouldn’t be happy that they are the first time in Europe? It’s because it’s hard,” he said.

On Thursday, Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system successfully completed a launch rehearsal in the skies over Cornwall.

“The mood is incredibly good and every space launch is exciting and fun to be a part of,” Mr. Hart added.

Hart said Virgin Orbit is working closely with the Met Office to ensure the weather in the UK does not pose a problem at launch.

“The plane is very durable,” he said. “Although we have the ability to fly above the clouds, and we launch above the clouds, we want to make sure that a fired flash is not possible.”

The Boeing 747 has been called the “first class reusable first stage” of the launch vehicle.

“From an environmental point of view, we have taken a big leap with this technology,” said Mr. Hart.

“We understand what is happening to our planet, we understand how to optimize our behavior, largely thanks to what we understand in space.”

From military satellites to the GPS kit that’s on board Cosmic Girl

Prometheus-2

The two CubeSats are owned by the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DTSL) of the Department of Defense. These satellites will support the Department of Defense’s science and technology activities both in orbit and on the ground through the development of ground based systems aimed at the DTSL facility near Portsmouth.

IOD-3 AMBER

Developed by Satellite Applications Catapult and Horizon Technologies and built by UK-based AAC Clyde Space. IOD-3 Amber is expected to be the first of more than 20 Amber satellites to monitor illegal traffic from space.

CIRCLE

The CubeSat Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction Experiment is part of a joint mission between the UK DTSL and the US Naval Research Laboratory.

DOVER

Developed by the RHEA Group in the UK, this is the company’s first satellite in its 30 year history. This is SmallSat, designed to pave the way for fault-tolerant global navigation satellite systems.

ForgeStar-0

The satellite, developed by Space Forge of Wales, is a fully reusable and reusable platform that allows manufacturing in space.

MAN

Oman’s first orbital mission is a single Earth observation satellite designed to demonstrate the future feasibility of a larger constellation, developed in collaboration with the Sultanate of Oman, Polish small satellite manufacturer and operator SatRev, Polish AI data analyst TUATARA, and an Oman-based company. ETCO aggregation technology innovator.

Aist-6

Aist-6 is the next part of the STORK constellation of Earth observation satellites from the Polish manufacturer and operator of SatRev small satellites.