Virgin Orbit's 'LauncherOne' rocket arrives at Newquay airport in Cornwall ahead of space trip

  • Watch the moment LauncherOne landed on UK soil

Virgin Orbit’s 'LauncherOne' rocket has arrived at Newquay airport ahead of the first orbital take-off from UK soil.

The rocket left California on a C-17 military aircraft on Thursday, touching down in Cornwall on Friday evening (14 October).

Later this year, LauncherOne will carry seven payloads into low earth orbit, including a collection of satellites, on a mission called Start Me Up.

The rocket left California on a C-17 military aircraft on Thursday, touching down at Cornwall Airport Newquay on Friday evening. Credit: Virgin Orbit

The mission will see the launch carrier aircraft, a specially adapted Boeing 747 called Cosmic Girl, carry LauncherOne to an altitude of 35,000ft before deploying the rocket.

Start Me Up will make history for a number of reasons.

It will be the first orbital launch ever from the United Kingdom, the first international launch for Virgin Orbit, and the first commercial launch from Western Europe. 

Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, said: 'It’s been an incredible week, and the arrival of LauncherOne is the cherry on top.

"Seeing the infrastructure in place makes our launch ambitions a reality. We cannot wait to see the rocket take to the skies soon, carrying earth-benefitting satellite technology into low earth orbit."

Linda Taylor, leader of Cornwall Council, added: "Cornwall Council is proud to be a part of this project which puts Cornwall once again on the global stage.

"Spaceport Cornwall is already inspiring our young people to become the next generation of scientists and innovators – we look forward to the ground breaking research and exploration that will be undertaken in the years to come, which will help us to better understand and address the needs of our planet and in particular climate change."