London– The first rocket launch from British soil is expected to take place on Monday, dpa reported.
If all goes to plan, and the weather cooperates, satellites will be blasted into space from Spaceport Cornwall as part of the Start Me Up mission.
The initial window for the historic mission will open at 10:16 pm (2216 GMT) on Monday, with additional back-up dates continuing into mid and late January Named in tribute to The Rolling Stones 1981 hit, the mission involves a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft and Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket.
The 747, dubbed Cosmic Girl, will take off horizontally from the new facility at Cornwall Airport Newquay while carrying the rocket, before releasing it at 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland.
The plane will then return to the spaceport while the rocket will ignite its engine and take multiple small satellites, with a variety of civil and defence applications, into orbit.
They will be the first satellites launched into space from Europe.
Source: Saudi Press Agency