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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Nadia Breen

Will UK's first orbital rocket launch be visible from Northern Ireland?

The UK's first orbital rocket launch is planned for take off on Monday night.

Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne is due to take off from Spaceport Cornwall at Cornwall Airport near Newquay, on January 9, 2023 at around 22:16.

It's reported that nine small satellites will be sent into space.

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The mission called 'Start Me Up' involves a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft - 'Cosmic Girl'. It's set to take off horizontally carrying LauncherOne.

Cornwall Live report that at 35,000ft or around one hour of flying, the rocket will be released over the Atlantic Ocean, just south of the Republic of Ireland. Cosmic Girl will then return to Newquay Airport, the site added.

Speaking to Belfast Live, Matt Archer, Commercial Space Director at the UK Space Agency spoke about if the rocket launch will be visible from Northern Ireland.

He said: "It is possible. It depends on the weather, so if it is a very clear night sky, it will be on the horizon if they look south, you might see a very brief kind of flash as the rocket ignites and then accelerates away over the horizon's edge. I think it will depend on the weather.

"Effectively, it will be dropped off the south coast of Ireland...

"If the weather is no good today [Monday], the next available slot is Friday evening, and then if that doesn't work it will be Sunday.

"It has been a long time in the making, for me personally and for my team and for the many others that have been involved, this is the culmination of years' worth of work so yeah, very exciting times and part of the exciting times of bringing the Space Conference to Northern Ireland as well later in the year."

Cornwall Live report that Dan Hart, chief executive of Virgin Orbit, said: "We knew this was not going to be a piece of cake when we took up on the opportunity.

"We worked very closely with the UK Space Agency, the Civil Aviation Authority and Spaceport Cornwall, as well as the international airspace community. I think we have learned a lot doing that. I think, like any first, the first time you do it is difficult, the second time you already know and can anticipate.

"The short answer is we are excited to be here, and we're excited about the future and coming back as soon as later this year to launch again."

The historic moment will be broadcast on YouTube for those not attending the live event in Cornwall.

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