The UK's first attempt to put a rocket into orbit ended in failure after an 'anomaly' after launch saw the projectile lost.
Virgin Orbit was aiming to launch the nation's first-ever rocket into orbit, with a flight taking off from Newquay in Cornwall on Tuesday morning.
Previously satellites made in Britain have been launched from other countries, while British-born astronauts have gone to the cosmos with NASA, the USSR or the European Space Agency.
The Boeing 747 jet took a launcher out into the Atlantic ocean, south of Ireland, to send the projectile into space.
However, while the rocket ignited successfully and appeared to be ascending as planned contact with it was lost and Virgin Orbit said it had suffered 'an anomaly'.
We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information.
— Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit) January 9, 2023
The UK Space Agency stated that an issue with the top of the rocket had caused the issue, which likely fell back to earth away from population centres.
Launch director Matt Archer told BBC News: "The second-stage engine had a technical anomaly and didn't reach the required orbit.
"That's now part of an investigation by Virgin Orbit and a number of government departments."
Dan Hart, the CEO of Virgin Orbit, said: "We are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve. The first-time nature of this mission added layers of complexity that our team professionally managed through; however, in the end a technical failure appears to have prevented us from delivering the final orbit.
"We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process."
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