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The UK’s Space Launch Goes Dark: Satellite Mission Fails

by Valentine EnedahFebruary 15th, 2023

Too Long; Didn't Read

Virgin Orbit attempted to launch a satellite using a large airplane, but the rocket LauncherOne failed due to a technical anomaly in the second-stage engine. This failed mission was a major disappointment for the UK space agency as it aimed to be a major player in the space industry. Despite the failure, the UK is still known globally for building satellites. This raises questions about the reliability of unconventional launching methods. Regardless, the famous quote from President John F. Kennedy emphasizes perseverance in pursuing difficult endeavours.

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Virgin Orbit, an American company, recently attempted to launch a satellite into space using a large airplane to carry the rocket LauncherOne from Newquay, Cornwall to the Atlantic Ocean. Despite initial success, the rocket encountered an issue, resulting in the loss of the satellites it was carrying.

In this slogging thread, our community discussed the UK's failed satellite launch and some other failed attempts by other countries.

This Slogging thread by Valentine Enedah, Sara Pinto, Mónica Freitas and Marco Sullivan occurred in slogging's official #space channel, and has been edited for readability.

Valentine EnedahJan 13, 2023, 6:18 AM

UK’s Launch Goes Dark: Satellite Mission Fails
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64218883

Valentine EnedahJan 13, 2023, 7:29 AM

This mission was tagged as a major milestone for the UK space agency, as it has been a great ambition for the country to be a big player in terms of building rockets, manufacturing satellites, and launching spacecraft.
The upper segment of the rocket was where the issue occurred and due to the second-stage engine experiencing a technical anomaly, it could not complete its required orbit.

Valentine EnedahJan 13, 2023, 8:03 AM

Valentine EnedahJan 13, 2023, 8:08 AM

Although the UK’s space industry delivers its products to other foreign space stations to put them into orbit, it is still known globally for building satellites of different sizes. This failed mission raises questions about the reliability and effectiveness of new, unconventional methods of launching satellites.
Regardless of that, I will quote the famous words of President John F. Kennedy, which emphasize perseverance in pursuing difficult endeavours. "We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard."
What do you think?

Sara PintoJan 13, 2023, 10:43 AM

Valentine Enedah, picking up on the famous quote, I think it totally fits the situation. Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned, but there's so much yet to explore that we can't let go of this ambition.

Valentine EnedahJan 13, 2023, 10:48 AM

Sara Pinto Yes, exactly. Progress is progress, no matter how little it is. Africa is not even close to launching theirs so believe this is a huge leap.🔥

Mónica FreitasJan 13, 2023, 2:18 PM

I mean, we learn from failure. This will be important for their future developments. It's a shame it failed but it'll be useful later on and it's a great initiative

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Valentine EnedahJan 13, 2023, 6:41 PM

Mónica Freitas Indeed! I hope they figure it out. Has Portugal launched a satellite to space?

Marco SullivanJan 16, 2023, 8:03 AM

Satellite launch is not an easy feat and this is indeed horrible.
Valentine Enedah Do you know more about this and can you tell us about countries that have tried and also failed?

Mónica FreitasJan 16, 2023, 4:06 PM

Valentine Enedah I don't think so, Even though we have a Space Agency - https://ptspace.pt/azores-islp/ - I don't think we ever got that much involved. How about your country?

Valentine EnedahJan 17, 2023, 5:20 AM

Marco Sullivan Well, a couple of countries have tried and failed.
But I found a useful site where you can check some popular satellite launch failures.
I think the one that was really sad for me is China's failed attempt to launch the World's first Methane-fueled Orbital rocket.
Link: https://www.space.com/12-biggest-rocket-failures-2022

Valentine EnedahJan 17, 2023, 5:22 AM

Mónica Freitas That's okay.
We haven't attempted any satellite launches yet. I don't think we will do that soon!😂

Mónica FreitasJan 17, 2023, 8:05 PM

Valentine Enedah I'm not sure but I think this says a lot about our countries finances ahaha

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Valentine EnedahJan 18, 2023, 2:16 AM

Mónica Freitas Yes, cause most times, these satellites fail to launch so imagine investing millions of a currency into space operations and the launch fails. It might deal a heavy blow on the economy.

Mónica FreitasJan 25, 2023, 7:41 PM

True, especially for economies that aren't as strong. Great point Valentine Enedah

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Valentine EnedahJan 26, 2023, 2:07 PM

Mónica Freitas Yes and it happened during this time. I hope they don't increase taxes for their citizens.

Mónica FreitasFeb 1, 2023, 11:39 AM

Unfortunately we're experiencing that here but for different events - religious in the most recent case - and we're all kinda mad about it

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Valentine EnedahFeb 1, 2023, 1:38 PM

Mónica Freitas Religious taxes? That's interesting!

Mónica FreitasFeb 1, 2023, 2:13 PM

Yeah, so basically, there's this youth event where the pope comes to a country and for a while they have all these religious ceremonies. The issue is, our government is willing to spend over 38M euros for this event - with us, the people, paying part of it and other bit being payed by the church

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Mónica FreitasFeb 1, 2023, 2:14 PM

With the inflation raging about, no one is happy about this

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Valentine EnedahFeb 1, 2023, 2:29 PM

Mónica Freitas 38M!!!! What! That's a lot of money. Reminds me of back in the medieval where Kingdoms have to pay a lot of money to the papacy.

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Mónica FreitasFeb 1, 2023, 3:41 PM

FACTS!

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