Spaceport Cornwall could launch Virgin aircraft rockets in weeks

It will be the culmination of eight years of hard work, but for Cornwall’s growing space industry it could kickstart a revolution.

When it was first suggested that Cornwall Airport Newquay could be home to the UK’s first spaceport there was a mix of scepticism, surprise and hope. There was also a lot of misunderstanding as many, wrongly, thought that Newquay would see vertical rocket launches into space.

Spaceport Cornwall will be home to horizontal launches – enabled by modified aircraft carrying rockets which can be launched once the aircraft reaches a certain height, sending the rocket and its load into orbit.

Visions of huge rockets blasting off from the coast of Cornwall in a burst of smoke are wide of the mark. But the ability to launch rockets and satellites into space from Cornwall could be a gamechanger for the Duchy.

Cornwall is already home to some businesses which are working in the space industry – Goonhilly Earth Station probably the most well known example. But with Spaceport Cornwall now finally open for business many other companies in Cornwall are finding that they are also able to play a part in the space race.

Last month Spaceport Cornwall officially opened for business with the launch of its Space Systems Integration Facility which is part of the Centre for Space Technologies at the Spaceport. This facility will enable companies to integrate their satellites into rockets which will take them into orbit.

This is the first of two facilities with a Space Systems Operations Facility set to open in March next year which will offer research and development facilities as well as office space for companies working at the Spaceport.

And later this month a launch window opens when Virgin Orbit could undertake its maiden launch from Spaceport Cornwall using Cosmic Girl. Having already successfully launched from their base in the USA, Spaceport Cornwall could be next to see a launch by Virgin Orbit.

Sir Richard Branson’s company has developed a rocket system known as LauncherOne which will be used to launch six satellites in the first launch. The launch window opens on October 29 and the first voyage from Newquay could happen in the weeks after that.

The first launch will see Cosmic Girl take off from Newquay with LauncherOne attached to the aircraft. Once it hits the correct height – around 35,000 feet – the rocket will launch and when that gets to orbital altitude it will deploy the satellites sending them into orbit at 8,000 miles per hour.

It’s an exciting time for all at Spaceport Cornwall and nobody is more excited than Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall: “We are set now for launch, it is very exciting – it has taken eight years of hard work to get to this point, it is now happening, it is now real and it is great.

“We opened the new Space Systems Integration Facility last week and to now have a physical presence, that bricks and mortar in place makes it all feel even more real. We have had our first satellite come this week and we have a satellite team now working in Cornwall.

“There are a lot of talented people working in the space industry here in Cornwall and we have more and more coming here to work with incredible pieces of technology all in Newquay and its surrounding area.”

Melissa said that Spaceport Cornwall is looking to lead not just the UK in the space industry but also internationally by taking an environmentally responsible approach to space launches.

“We have worked very hard and we believe in this for Cornwall, it has already provided so many jobs for Cornwall and we are giving Cornwall a voice in space and challenging the space industry to clean up its act and be part of the movement to improve.”

She added: “The space industry is helping to launch this amazing technology to help save planet Earth and humans on planet Earth but we want to minimise our impact on the Earth. We want other spaceports in the world to do the same, we want to lead by example.”

It has been claimed that the Centre for Space Technologies and Spaceport Cornwall could help to create 150 direct jobs and generate £200m GVA. The facilities have been funded by the UK Space Agency, Cornwall Council, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership and Virgin Orbit.

Cosmic Girl is set to arrive in Cornwall this month ahead of its first launch when it will be sending satellites roughly the size of shoeboxes into space. Included in the first payloads will be two Government satellites.

And it will also have Kernow Sat 1 a satellite which has been designed and built in Cornwall and will also be tracked in Cornwall once it is in orbit. This will be providing data which can be used to monitor the environment in Cornwall.

Spaceport Cornwall has been hosting exhibitions and carrying out educational events in schools and with community groups to ensure that people in Cornwall know what the facility is all about and what it will be doing for the Duchy.

Melissa said: “Rather than going out and telling people that the Spaceport is amazing we have to back that up, we want to show people that it will be good for Cornwall and how it will positively impact business.

“I think the cluster that we have here and in the UK is adding value to the UK and Cornwall and what we already have here. There is also the environmental intelligence which we will be able to get from space and that can be used down here.

“We should look at how Cornwall can use these incredible assets to become a hub for the space industry. How can we become the hub of looking at marine environments from space? How do we become a hub to use satellites for good? How do we become the hub to inspire young people in careers, not just in space but those which use the data which is being transmitted from space?

“I want Cornwall to not just be a space cluster but to be an area that can become that global hub as nobody else is looking at this in the way we are. We have all these incredible people and businesses already here and we can build on that for the future.”