Photos of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket being loaded on an aircraft bound for the UK have been released as anticipation builds for Britain's first orbital rocket launch. Royal Air Force troops from 99 Sqn were snapped loading the 30-ton 21.3 metre long rocket into an RAF C-17 Globemaster (ZZ174) in California where it was made.
British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit plan to launch the rocket sometime in the next month from Spaceport Cornwall, Newquay. It will be the first orbital rocket launch from British soil - and the first British-led rocket launch since 1979.
While not large enough to carry people like NASA's recent SpaceX launches, Virgin Orbit hopes to become the world's premier small satellite launch service provider. This will be the sixth launch by the California-based firm's LauncherOne model rocket, which is launched 'horizontally' off the bottom of a 747 aircraft named 'Cosmic Girl'.
