Richard Branson's Cosmic Girl fails to put UK into orbit; Virgin sinks 30%

Britain’s attempt to send the first satellites into orbit from its own soil failed, dealing a blow to its bid to join the ranks of space nations and sending shares of Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Holdings tumbling.

For Virgin Orbit the failure represents a more material setback, with the stock plunging close to 30 per cent in after-hours US trading.

Virgin Orbit’s modified 747 plane Cosmic Girl took off from Spaceport Cornwall, with the LauncherOne rocket underneath its wing. At an altitude of roughly 35,000 feet, the rocket successfully deployed from Cosmic Girl and ignited its main engine. However, sometime during the