To the Moon, Cornwall and beyond: a year like no other as major space milestones achieved

The most significant achievements are not the successes others can see but the hurdles cleared as a team and the capture of solutions masquerading as problems.

2022 drew to a close with, quite literally, the planets aligning and all seven visible in the UK’s sky.?Quite an astronomical event at the end of what has been a very busy year for all who work in the space sector. ?This week is the start of a New Year; 2023 - bringing fresh resolutions and new starts.?It also marks a new moon at the end of the week and provides an opportunity to reflect on a snapshot of launch related events and project some thoughts forward on this year.?Clearly there is more than enough to fill an entire book so do forgive any omissions in the cause of brevity! ?

The UK has seen the prominence of launch from the UK reach exciting levels with the success of a number of major milestones. These include the UK’s first ever spaceport licence granted to Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay and an operator license issues to Virgin Orbit which has enabled the final checks, a wet dress rehearsal and Launch Readiness Review, of their Start Me Up mission to take place from Cornwall in the next few days. ?And alongside this we have seen significant progress with Orbex closing a further funding round and making good progress with their Prime launch vehicle and preparations for Sutherland Spaceport and significant construction work at Saxa Vord Spaceport which I managed to visit before Christmas; it promises to be a very exciting year ahead.

It is easy to be seduced by the visible elements of launch vehicles, spaceports, ground support equipment and the important missions for each payload but its most important to realise this very first launch has achieved the most challenging task; to practically implement each of the UK’s launch regulations and seek out, through testing, all those areas that can only be discovered through operating; international airspace and marine license nuances, the requirement for foreign rocket permits and the delicate art of diplomacy by Ambassadors to secure agreement. ?Lifting it from a theoretical exercise to the real world.?This is the challenge of any first launch for a nation and for Virgin Orbit has been a real test of mettle, understanding and patience from which all subsequent operators in the UK will benefit, whether homegrown or attracted to the UK through our burgeoning space economy.?

On the global stage, Artemis 1, NASA's new Moon rocket, lifted off with three dummies on board in November and successfully returned its Orion capsule in mid-December, bringing the United States one step closer to putting astronauts back on the lunar surface for the first time in 50 years. During its three-week flight, the rocket propelled an empty crew capsule into a wide, distant retrograde orbit around the Moon, before the capsule returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific and is now at the Kennedy Space Center for further testing. The successful launch and recovery of Artemis 1 is a huge milestone for the global space community and indeed all humanity, heralding the arrival of an exciting new chapter in our history. As the Artemis programme proceeds, we can look forward to seeing the first woman and person of colour landing on the moon and are excited about the prospects of establishing a long-term lunar presence and going beyond to Mars.

And the UK is playing a key role in this mission, with Goonhilly Earth Station having tracked the Orion capsule as it made its way to the Moon and back. UK companies are also supporting the wider Artemis programme, for example by providing the refuelling module on the orbiting lunar Gateway and lunar communication and navigation services. ?Once the preserve of space scientists and academics, now space is being talked about by people young and old and its importance in our everyday lives is universally recognised thanks to the engineering skills of launch vehicle and spaceport operators, the regulatory foot footwork of the CAA and the UK Space Agency and departmental and international cooperation that has enabled this first launch.

So with spaceport, payload and operator licences granted, the UK now has green lights for launch and a healthy rocket that will carry UK payloads on the very first orbital launch from the UK. And from Europe. The Virgin Orbit team and Cornwall Spaceport will now proceed through the final routine items on their pre-flight checklist ahead of the launch, firmly establishing the UK’s reputation as a leading spacefaring nation.

And this marks the start of an exciting new launch era for the UK. Later this year we hope to see the UK’s first vertical launches take place from Scotland. Orbex’s Prime rocket, which has been designed and manufactured in the UK, is on track to take off from Sutherland Spaceport and Lockheed Martin’s pathfinder launch with ABL Space Systems will take place from SaxaVord in Shetland. That’s not to mention the wealth of other pioneering launch activities happening right across the UK from companies such as Skyrora, Astraius, SpaceForge and SSTL to name just a few.

But this has only been enabled by those that have gone before us and worked tirelessly to realise these ambitions. So as we celebrate the huge achievements of 2022, let’s also take a moment to pay tribute to our predecessors that have been key to making the UK Europe’s leading launch nation for both national and international launch partners.