The Satellite Applications Catapult (Catapult), a British innovation and technology company, has contracted with launch provider Virgin Orbit to include one of its satellites on a launch planned for later this year.
The contract, announced on 6 April, covers the inclusion of the Catapult-managed Amber-1 satellite on the first launch of the aircraft-carried LauncherOne vehicle, which is set to be the first ever orbital launch from British soil (vertical suborbital launches have take place before). The only previous UK orbital launch involved the UK-built Black Arrow rocket, carrying the Prospero satellite, via a vertical launch from the Woomera test range in Australia.
Artist’s impression of Virgin Orbit’s Boeing 747-400/LauncherOne combination operating from Newquay spaceport. Courtesy: UK Space Agency
The Amber-1 satellite was built by AAC Clyde Space and carries a Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) payload for Horizon Technologies, a global provider of SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services.
This first Virgin Orbit mission from the UK is planned to depart from Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport, which has been developed as the first UK-based horizontal launch facility.
This story has been corrected. The Virgin Orbit launch will be the first orbital launch from UK soil.
