LONDON—A
Virgin Orbit
VORB -8.53%
Holdings Inc. rocket carrying satellites from the U.K. failed to reach orbit after it suffered an anomaly over the Atlantic Ocean, a blow to Richard Branson’s ambitions in the growing market for commercial satellite launches.
The mission was the first attempt to launch satellites from the U.K. A customized Boeing 747 dubbed Cosmic Girl took off from Spaceport Cornwall, southwestern England, and successfully released a rocket, the company said.
The rocket reached space but experienced an anomaly before it could achieve its target orbit. Cosmic Girl returned safely to Space Cornwall with the flight crew.
Shares in Virgin Orbit, which are listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, fell 21% in off-hours trading after the problem was disclosed.
The Start Me Up mission, named after the hit Rolling Stones’ song, marked the first international mission for Virgin Orbit and its first commercial launch from Western Europe.
The sister company of Virgin Galactic, a space-tourism venture also founded by Mr. Branson, Virgin Orbit had previously successfully launched satellites into orbit using a 747.
It competes with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, and others for a share of the growing market for commercial satellite launches.
Dan Hart, CEO of Virgin Orbit, on Monday.
Photo:
HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS
“We are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve,” said
Dan Hart,
CEO of Virgin Orbit, in a statement posted on the company’s Twitter page.
“We will 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,” he added.
Write to Michael Wright at [email protected]
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