UK surfing town channels Cape Canaveral with nation’s first space launch from home soil

The small group of nations to have sent rockets into the sky from their own soil is about to gain a new member as Britain makes its first-ever launch from a seaside town better known for surfing and sandy beaches than space adventures.

The mission will take off from Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay, southwest England, the first of a clutch of bases through which the UK aims to establish itself as a major player in the sector amid surging demand for launch capacity.

The flight involves a so-called horizontal launch, with a rocket deployed from under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 plane departing from Newquay’s former air force runway.

Virgin Orbit, part-owned by billionaire Richard Branson, who founded the Virgin Atlantic airline, plans to use the altered plane for the first time outside the company’s base in the United States.

Once it is at around 35,000 feet, the rocket will be released over the Atlantic, taking small satellites from seven customers into orbit in what is known as a horizontal launch.

The mission has been given a window for take-off from 2216 local time on Monday but that is dependent on the weather plus other scheduling and system issues, and Virgin Orbit said there are backup dates in mid and late January.