Cornwall space technology centre 'hugely exciting' says minister

The rocket-propelled launcher for satellites is attached to a Virgin Orbit plane

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said a new base for space technology firms is a "hugely exciting asset" to Cornwall and the UK.

He cut the turf to start building the £5.6m Centre for Space Technologies at Newquay Airport, from where a satellite is due to be launched in the summer.

Mr Kwarteng said the centre would create 150 jobs and bring space businesses and academics together.

The Kernow Sat 1 satellite will measure ocean pollution and deforestation.

Mr Kwarteng said the centre "will be a hugely exciting asset to both Cornwall, and to the UK's space sector as a whole".

And he said it would "contribute to vital research and development" and bring together "industry and academia to exploit space to solve some of humanity's greatest challenges".

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Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, said the neighbouring Centre for Space Technologies was proof of Spaceport's "ambitions to lead the way in a global industry shift" towards solving global climate challenges.

The centre is joint-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Cornwall Council and the UK Government's Getting Building Fund.

The launch of Kernow Sat 1, on a date to be set, follows the successful launch by a Virgin Orbit plane of satellites from the US.

Kernow Sat 1 and a number of other satellites will be put in space by a rocket-propelled launcher attached under the wing of a Virgin Orbit plane.