Virgin Orbit's "Cosmic Girl," a retrofitted Boeing 747 plane, is scheduled for a horizontal launch into orbit Monday night from the United Kingdom's Spaceport Cornwall. The mission, dubbed Start Me Up, is the first orbital launch in both the UK and Western Europe. It's also the culmination of a yearslong effort by the country to enter the modern space race.
Cosmic Girl has a payload of nine small satellites from several customers, including the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the U.K. Ministry of Defence, and the government of Oman.
Don't expect the same fanfare as some recent space launches. Horizontal space launches are generally more seamless. Cosmic Girl will take off like a normal plane, fly to around 35,000 feet above the southern coast of Ireland, and then deploy the LauncherOne rocket.
The LauncherOne is a so-called air-launched rocket. Launched from a carrier aircraft at high altitudes, the rocket is able to deliver small payloads of satellites into orbit. Virgin Orbit developed the concept over years, and started putting it into use in 2021.
Ian Annett, deputy chief executive at the UK Space Agency, has heralded the launch as an "iconic moment" — though it's not technically England's first. The agency completed a mission, called the Black Arrow, back in 1971, but the launch actually took place in Australia.
This is Virgin Orbit's sixth launch. The private space company had initially planned six for 2022, but lowered its forecast amid financial troubles. The company recently announced plans to raise $25 million to refill its shrinking cash reserves.
The Supreme Court is facing a self-imposed Friday night deadline to decide whether women’s access to a widely used abortion pill will stay unchanged until a legal challenge to its Food and Drug Administration approval is resolved.
Sam Rose, an activist with Truth Initiative and a former e-cigarette user, joined Cheddar News to speak about his experience with purchasing flavored tobacco products and his group's message to other teens to stay wary.
Under a cloudless sky, 20,000 eclipse chasers crowded a tiny outpost to watch a rare solar eclipse plunge part of Australia's northwest coast into brief midday darkness Thursday while temporarily cooling the tropical heat.
Earth Day is in just a few days, and Shelley Rogers, who coordinates a fashion initiative for Earthday.org, stopped by the Cheddar News studios to showcase some clothing options for environmentally-conscious shoppers.
Earth Day is in just a few days, and Shelley Rogers, who coordinates a fashion initiative for Earthday.org, stopped by the Cheddar News studios to showcase some clothing options for environmentally-conscious shoppers.
