Spaceport Cornwall: What time is the Virgin Orbit rocket launch today? This is how to watch it

Several satellites will be blasted into space in Cornwall tonight

Cornwall is set to make history today with the UK's first-ever rocket launch.

Several satellites are due to be blasted into space tonight from Cornwall Airport near Newquay. Get live updates here.

The mission is being operated by Sir Richard Branson’s company Virgin Orbit, which has repurposed a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft.

The plane will have Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket strapped under its wing when it takes off from Cornwall Airport Newquay some time after 10.16pm on Monday 9 January.

It will then fly out over the Atlantic Ocean past the southwest tip of Ireland where the crew will then drop the rocket and swiftly steer out of the flight path.

The Launcher One will then ignite and accelerate to 22x the speed of sound past the coasts of Spain and Portugal.

It will leave the Earth's atmosphere and enter into its orbit at 17,200 miles per hour.

What time will the rocket take off in Cornwall today?

Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl is expected to take off at around 10pm.

The rocket will then be released around 90 minutes after the plane takes off.

Cosmic Girl will then return to Newquay Airport in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Confirmation that the mission has been a success, and the satellite separation has been confirmed, is not expected until sometime between 1.15am and 1.30am.

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How to watch the rocket launch from Cornwall today?

Around 2,500 people are expected to attend the launch but it will also be live-streamed by Virgin Orbit on YouTube.

We'll be covering it live on ITV News West Country throughout the evening.

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