Cornish spaceport expects green light as Virgin Orbit awaits licence

CORNWALL is to be given the green light to host the UK’S first space launch – but Sir Richard Branson faces a further wait before Virgin Orbit is given permission to blast off.

Spaceport Cornwall, the converted airport in Newquay that will serve as the base for Virgin Orbit’s mission, is expected to be granted a spaceport licence by regulators as early as today, according to multiple sources.

The Civil Aviation Authority is also expected to announce it is in the process of granting a second licence to launch spacecraft from a base in the Shetland Islands.

But Sir Richard’s hopes of taking off from the UK remain bogged down in red tape after months of delays.

The CAA is yet to grant the billionaire’s satellite venture its own operating licence.

Officials were last night putting the final touches to plans to approve Spaceport Cornwall. They have now asked for ministerial consent, which could be announced as early as today. A CAA spokesman declined to comment.

The decision would clear a key hurdle in the way of the maiden satellite launch from the British Isles, more than 50 years after the British-made Black Arrow rocket reached orbit from the Australian outback.

Virgin Orbit plans to fly a converted Boeing 747, called Cosmic Girl, from Spaceport Cornwall to a height of 35,000ft above the ocean, before a rocket, Launcherone, is dropped from under its wing and blasts into orbit.

Its current launch window runs until the end of December. Industry sources have bemoaned the slow progress of signing off the debut rocket launch, but the CAA has defended its process, arguing it was committed to securing a safe mission.

The much-delayed launch had originally been slated for the summer to coincide with the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

It was then pushed back to September and delayed further until November. The Government said last week the launch would go ahead this month.

Sir Richard displayed frustration during an interview with The Telegraph earlier this month. “I can’t talk how I’d like to talk,” he said, adding that “bureaucracy… can take time”.

Plans to approve a second base off the Scottish mainland will be welcomed by Saxavord, a spaceport set to be based in the Shetland Islands, which is hoping to host launches next year. Founded in 2017, Virgin Orbit provides commercial launch capabilities for satellite operators. It achieved its first successful launch in January 2021, flying out from the Mojave desert in California. Its next mission will carry satellites including small satellites from Space Forge, which is developing an orbital factory, and satellites from the US intelligence service the National Reconnaissance Office.

Virgin Orbit shares are down 58pc so far this year, valuing the company at $1bn. Virgin Group pumped a further £21m into Orbit earlier this month.