UK’s first space launch

The rocket will then ignite and accelerate at up to 22 times the speed of sound, zooming south-southwest over the Atlantic before leaving the Earth’s atmosphere and entering into orbit at a blistering speed of 17,200mph.

The modified Boeing 747 will be piloted by flight Lieutenant Mathew ‘Stanny’ Stannard, who will be joined by launch engineers Bryce Schaefer, and Dayle Alexander. 

Ms Thorpe is part of a small team, with Spaceport Cornwall only set to have seven team members on site for the launch. Virgin Orbit will have 50 crew members, a mix of engineers, satellite technicians and operations. 

And so far, preparations seem to be going smoothly. Ms Thorpe added: “Things are going amazing. I am currently stood outside and I can see Cosmic Girl, it doesn’t get much better than this at the moment. All the equipment came in last week so we are settling Virgin into the site, their equipment and their staff…this week is all about settling in.”

DON’T MISS 
Twindemic’ fears grow amid early October Covid spike [REPORT] 
Britons brace for Orionids meteor shower this week – how to watch [INSIGHT] 
Ukraine on alert as Russian false flag dam attack could flood city [REVEAL] 

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1686403/uk-space-launch-spaceport-cornwall-virgin-orbit-melissa-thorpe