Rebecca Morelle
Science editor at Spaceport Cornwall

The excitement at Newquay Airport is building.

It’s not every day crowds gather to watch a plane take off.

But this is a flight with a difference, and 2,000 people have come to Spaceport Cornwall to watch.

There are food trucks, a “merch stand” - and a silent disco. It’s like a festival here - albeit one that’s very dark and pretty cold.

One family we spoke to described this as a once in a lifetime opportunity - and a massive deal for the local area. They said they were here to watch UK space history being made.

Image source, PA Media

This mission will be the first ever orbital space launch from British soil and British astronaut Tim Peake has been telling us why it's so important.

He says the UK is a prime location for getting satellites into space because they'll be able to enter "a very useful orbit".

Speaking to BBC News, Peake - - who travelled into space in 2015 - says the style of orbit - known as a sun synchronous orbit - will allow the satellites to track an impressive stretch covering almost everywhere from the North Pole to the South Pole.

"That makes it a very useful orbit for things like earth observation, climate data, weather, and also intelligence gathering, communications and navigation as well," he adds.

If the launch goes to plan later, nine small satellites will be released into an orbit more than 310 miles (500km) above the Earth.

They have a mix of civil and military applications, ranging from ocean monitoring to navigation technology.

All the satellites on board are known as cubesats and aren't much bigger than a toaster - a far cry from what most people think satellites look like.

The diminutive size of these devices is possible because the miniaturisation of many modern electronics enables engineers to cram a lot of performance into very small volumes.

One of the shoe-box sized satellites belongs to Cardiff-based company Space Forge.

The firm wants to use satellites to make novel, high-value materials and components in space before bringing them back down to Earth.

Image source, Reuters

Tonight’s launch is being hailed as a breakthrough moment for the UK space sector because, while rockets have been sent to space from Britain before, they have never been used to put satellites into orbit.

Those earlier launches came as part of military exercises or for atmospheric research, with the vehicles involved coming straight back down - rather than to circle the Earth as a satellite does.

While the UK is well regarded for making satellites of all sizes, the country’s space industry has always needed to send them to foreign spaceports for launch.

By adding launch capability, the sector will in future be able to carry out projects from design through to mission operations.

This means time and cost savings for British companies, as well as making the UK a more attractive place for companies from other nation's to invest.

Amy Gladwell
BBC South West

A couple of miles from where tonight's launch will take place in Cornwall, Debbie Morton, from Trevarrian, said she was “not too sure” how she feels about it.

Speaking earlier in Mawgan Porth, she said “in this current climate it seems insane to invest so much in space and space travel”.

She feels we should be doing more to directly tackle climate change before we focus on sending satellites to gather more data.

Lucy Brown told me she only found out about the launch earlier today through a local group on Facebook.

“I haven’t really heard much about it until now… We’re going to go out and watch and see if we can see anything.”

Katy Granter, from Derbyshire who's on holiday in the area, said she was excited to get here and find out about the launch on the news.

“We are hoping to see something from where we are staying because we can look out to the sea… It is quite exciting to be down here.

"We’ve always had a bit of a NASA thing going on in our house… I am fascinated by it, it is all quite magical.”

As preparations get underway, Science Minister George Freeman who’s at Newquay Airport tonight says the launch isn't just good news for Cornwall - but for the UK's "space economy" at large.

He tells BBC News: "Space is the frontier of the global race geopolitically.

"There's huge investment as the sector moves from a Cold War, military sovereign sector to something a lot more open and commercial."

He adds that the government has set out a space strategy with the aim of "becoming a leader in the global market".

"Tonight, we win the global race in Europe to launch... We'll be doing much more to grow that £16bn space sector."

Image source, Spaceport Cornwall

Cornwall Airport Newquay became the UK’s first airport to hold a Spaceport licence in November 2022, but why was it chosen?

The airport’s position on the South West peninsula of the UK means there is direct access to a flight path over the sea and there’s also a low civilian population within the surrounding area, Spaceport Cornwall said.

Its long runway, which was once operated by the RAF, means it can accept large aircraft such as Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747.

This was tested when the G7 was held in Cornwall in 2021 and US president Joe Biden arrived at the airport in Air Force One.

“The G7 was a great proving ground for bringing in 747s,” said Dan Hart, CEO of Virgin Orbit.

Image source, PA Media

Here’s a quick summary of what we expect to happen over the next few hours:

At around 21:39 GMT, a Boeing 747 called Cosmic Girl, repurposed to carry a rocket underneath its left wing by US space firm Virgin Orbit, will take off from Newquay airport.

When it leaves Newquay, it will head west out over the Atlantic to a designated launch zone just off the coast of the Irish counties of Kerry and Cork.

At the appropriate moment and at an altitude of 35,000ft, the Virgin jet will release the rocket, called LauncherOne, at approximately 22:49, which will then ignite its first-stage engine to begin the climb to orbit.

We’re expecting that the satellites will fully separate from the rocket between 23:43 to 23:48.

We should get confirmation that the satellites have made it successfully into orbit around 00:20.

Image source, .

Image source, Virgin Orbit

Welcome to our live coverage of the first ever orbital space launch from British soil.

Newquay Airport in Cornwall is the starting point for the operation which will see a repurposed 747 release a rocket over the Atlantic to take nine satellites into orbit high above the Earth.

If it succeeds, it will be a major milestone for UK space, marking the birth of a home-grown launch industry.

This is the second attempt for the mission, after a previous launch before Christmas was stood down for further technical testing.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed that everything will go to plan tonight.

Stay with us for full coverage.