HISTORY TO BE MADE AS VIRGIN ORBIT SET TO LAUNCH A ROCKET FROM THE UK

Weather permitting, history should be made this evening as Virgin Orbit sends a rocket from the underbelly of a repurposed 747 jet, into orbit.

Cornwall Space Port, tucked away in the corner of Newquay Airport, is the starting point for the operation which should take place just before midnight (9th Jan).

If successful, it will be a major milestone for UK space, with the first launch of an orbital class rocket from the UK.

Launcher One (The Rocket) will be slung under the left wing of Cosmic Girl (The Plane), then flown up to an altitude of 35,000ft, before being released before ignition of its rocket engine to loft 9 shoebox sized mini satellites into orbit.

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit has so far has had success with four in a row launches from Mohave desert being successful.

The UK is already one of the worlds leading satellite manufacturers but has not had it's own launch capability.

Josh Western, CEO of Space Forge, said:

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"For the first time, the UK has all the pieces of the jigsaw to be able to design and develop satellites, launch them from the UK and operate them from the UK."