Virgin Orbit rocket experiences anomaly during launch demo | Lifestyles – Technology

The launch would have seen the rocket — Launcher One — “ignite its engine mid-air for the first time,” according to a news release. However, the rocket experienced an issue.

“We’ve confirmed a clean release from the aircraft,” Virgin Orbit tweeted. “However, the mission terminated shortly into the flight.”

The company later tweeted that the rocket experienced an anomaly in its first-stage flight.

“As we said before the flight, our goals today were to work through the process of conducting a launch, learn as much as we could, and achieve ignition. We hoped we could have done more, but we accomplished those key objectives today,” the company said.

Virgin Orbit indicated in a news release that the “mission safely terminated.” A spokesperson confirmed the rocket fell into the ocean.

The company wants to fire satellites into orbit using rockets that launch mid-air from under the wing of a plane. The company previously said the demo “marks the apex of a five-year-long development program.”