Britain's bid to launch first satellites from Europe ends in failure

The first-ever satellite mission launched from Western Europe soil ended in disappointment early on Tuesday, when Virgin Orbit said its rocket had suffered an anomaly that prevented it from reaching orbit.

The US-based company attempted its first international launch on Monday, using a modified jumbo jet called "Cosmic Girl" to carry one of its rockets from Cornwall in southwestern England to the Atlantic Ocean where the rocket was released. 

The rocket was supposed to take nine small satellites for mixed civil and defence use into orbit.

But about two hours after the plane took off, the company reported that the mission encountered a problem.

“We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information,” Virgin Orbit said on Twitter.

In a statement, the company said the historic first attempt "ultimately fell short of reaching its target orbit".

Hundreds of people watched the launch, named "Start Me Up" after the Rolling Stones song.

Around an hour into the flight, the plane released the rocket at around 10,000 meters over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland.

The plane, piloted by a Royal Air Force pilot, returned to Cornwall after releasing the rocket.

The satellites have a variety of civil and defence functions, from sea monitoring that will help countries detect people smugglers to space weather observation.

High hopes

UK officials had high hopes for the mission. Ian Annett, deputy chief executive at the UK Space Agency, said it marked a “new era” for his country's space industry. 

If the mission had been successful, the UK will be one of only nine countries that can launch craft into Earth's orbit.

There was strong market demand for small satellite launches, Annett said, and