Virgin Orbit: Premature Shutdown Behind Rocket Launch Fail

A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, takes off from Spaceport Cornwall at Cornwall Airport, Newquay, England, on Jan. 9, 2023. Ben Birchall/PA via AP

LONDON—Virgin Orbit said Thursday its first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the UK failed after its rocket’s upper stage prematurely shut down.

The U.S.-based company used a modified Boeing 747 plane to carry one of its rockets from Cornwall in southwestern England over the Atlantic Ocean on Monday. The plane released the rocket, which carried nine small satellites, but the rocket failed to reach orbit.