Preparations are ramping up for the first horizontal launch from UK soil this summer, as the team at Spaceport Cornwall shadowed Virgin Orbit’s Straight Up mission operations while their launch took place in California last weekend.

The launch is the last from the United States before the much-anticipated first launch from UK soil this summer, and carried payloads for the Department of Defense (DOD) and Space Test Programme (STP), as part of the U.S. Space Force’s STP-S28A mission.

Working with Virgin Orbit Mission Manager Mark McCullick on-site Spaceport Cornwall continued to get mission-ready by echoing the operations happening in California, with a team from Virgin Orbit, from their Mission Control Centre in Cornwall.

The Straight Up launch began at 10:50 p.m. local time, Friday, July 1, and concluded with the successful deployment of all seven payloads at approximately 12:55 a.m. Pacific time on the morning of July 2. This night launch time was specifically chosen by Virgin Orbit to mirror the time planned for the UK launch. Both the information gathered from this exercise and the experience from shadowing the mission are key steps for Spaceport Cornwall - proving their ability on the ground as they accelerate towards first lift-off.

Melissa Thorpe, Head of Spaceport Cornwall, said: “The success of this last launch in California is extremely rewarding for Spaceport Cornwall and the UK space sector. It was amazing to see both the team from Virgin Orbit and our team working together to mirror the U.S. operations in real-time - ensuring we’re mission-ready for the Summer. This gave us a taste of what is to come and our team could not be more excited.”

The first launch this summer will carry multiple payloads of innovative satellite technology into Lower Earth Orbit (LEO). The mission from Cornwall will see the first ever satellite launched by the Sultanate of Oman focused on Earth Observation; future-facing return satellite tech aboard Wales’ first satellite, built by Space Forge; a Maritime monitoring payload built by Horizon Technologies and the Satellite Applications Catapult; as well satellites from the MOD, DSTL and US National Reconnaissance Office.

Cllr Gardner, Portfolio holder, Cornwall Council: “It is brilliant to see the teams on the ground in Cornwall preparing for what is to come. Launch operations from Cornwall will bring a key economic boost to the region and we are already feeling these positive effects. We’re very much looking forward to Cosmic Girl arriving at Cornwall Airport Newquay and delivering this UK first.”

As launch operations begin, Spaceport Cornwall is expected to provide over 150 direct jobs and £240M of GVA growth to the region, with a further 240 jobs being created through ancillary activity.