The boss of a Dundee company which had its technology on the first ever satellite mission launched from the UK, has expressed his disappointment at its failure.
A jumbo jet operated by the American Virgin Orbit company carried a rocket out of Newquay, Cornwall, to release it high over the Atlantic Ocean.
However, after launching the rocket suffered an “anomaly”. The satellites it was carrying could not be released and were lost.
Peter Mendham, chief executive of Bright Ascension, said today he was “absolutely gutted”.
The Dundee company, which has also worked with Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, had its software on three of the nine satellites that were due to be deployed in space.
Mr Mendham said: “Last night’s launch was disappointing indeed for a great number of people and companies involved, including Bright Ascension.
“We are absolutely gutted about the first UK launch failure and the satellites that were lost as a result.
“Our teams have worked so very hard to provide cutting-edge flight software for three out of nine spacecraft onboard the LauncherOne rocket and it was devastating to watch the mission fail.”
‘Degree of failure’ in space expected
Virgin Orbit issued a statement early on Tuesday morning saying that the historic attempt “ultimately fell short of reaching its target”.
Dan Hart, Virgin Orbit chief executive, said the firm would “work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process.”
Mr Mendham said his company would be ready to play a part in any future launches.
He adds: “Space exploration is not without risk and a degree of failure is always expected. We are proud of the hard work we put in and how close we got.
“We share the disappointment of our customers and partners and everyone involved in this historic launch, but we are moving on with a good number of missions in the pipeline that we expect to add to our previous and recent successes.”
SpaceX launch
The disappointment follows a successful launch by a SpaceX rocket for Bright Ascension last week.
The Dundee firm now has its software on 39 spacecraft in orbit.
The first attempt to launch satellites from western Europe failed when Virgin Orbit said an 'anomaly' had prevented its rocket from reaching orbit. More here: https://t.co/ODwimI3UJC pic.twitter.com/f2ZIF34Pns
— Reuters Science News (@ReutersScience) January 10, 2023
Bright Ascension say its innovative software helps lower risks and costs, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Its tech platform is responsible for flying and running the satellites as well as communications between the satellites and Earth.
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