Virgin Orbit counts down to 1st ever space launch from U.K.

(CNN) — Virgin Orbit is about to conduct the first ever space launch from the United Kingdom.

The spaceflight company, a subsidiary of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, is set to launch nine small satellites into Earth’s low orbit from a site in the southwest of England on Monday evening.

It will also mark the first launch of commercial satellites from western Europe, and the first international launch for Virgin Orbit. Since January 2021, the American company has conducted four successful launches from the Mojave desert in California.

Dan Hart, chief executive of Virgin Orbit, described the UK mission as a “historic endeavor.”

“This launch represents the opening of a new era in the British space industry and new partnerships across industry, government, and allies,” he said in a statement released Friday.

Virgin Orbit is planning a “horizontal launch,” which will see a modified Boeing 747 jet — dubbed “Cosmic Girl” — take off at 5:16 pm ET from the spaceport near Newquay in the county of Cornwall, about 245 miles west of London.

The plane will fly to about 35,000 feet before releasing a rocket strapped under its wing. The rocket will travel to between 310 and 745 miles (499 and 1199 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface and then release the satellites into orbit.

The satellites are owned by seven customers, including private companies and government agencies. Among other things, they will be used for preventing illegal trafficking, smuggling and terrorism, the company said in Friday’s press release, as well as for reducing the environmental impact of production.

The mission, named “Start Me Up” after the Rolling Stones’ 1981 song, is a joint venture between Virgin Orbit, the UK Space Agency, Cornwall’s local government and the UK’s Royal Air Force.

It could still be postponed to a later date this month in the event of bad weather or system issues, the company added.

‘A new era’

The launch marks a key milestone in the UK’s growing commercial satellite sector.

The country has been working on commercial spaceports for several years in a bid to capture a bigger share of the rapidly growing global space market, which Morgan Stanley estimates could be worth over $1 trillion by 2040.

The country’s £16.5 billion ($20 billion) space industry directly supported about 47,000 jobs between 2019 and 2020, according to the latest available government figures.

Ian Annett, the UK Space Agency’s deputy chief executive, said Friday that the launch signaled a “new era” for the UK’s space industry, “putting [it] firmly on the map as Europe’s leading destination for commercial small satellite launch.”

“The development of new orbital launch capabilities is already generating growth, catalyzing investment and creating jobs in Cornwall and other communities across the United Kingdom,” he added.

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