Virgin Orbit rocket suffers anomaly during air launch on first UK mission

Virgin Orbit s Cosmic Girl carrier plane deployed the Start Me Up mission s LauncherOne rocket for an air launch on Jan. 9, 2022. The rocket was deployed about an hour after the plane lifted off from Spaceport Cornwall in the UK. Full Story: The rocket suffered an anomaly during the flight and failed to deliver its payload to orbit, according to Chris Relf, Virgin Orbit director of systems engineering and verification. Credit: Virgin Orbit