"We'll go again" - Reactions after Cornwall's first space mission didn't reach orbit
The disappointing news came as Cosmic Girl returned to Cornwall Airport Newquay
Last updated 10th Jan 2023
Thousands of people were gathered at Spaceport Cornwall as the news was announced that the satellite orbit in space was unsuccessful.
Melissa Thorpe said: "We all heard at different times. Once we all came together there were tears and it was very upsetting. I am devastated.
"We did everything perfectly tonight from our point of view. The airport were amazing, everything went to plan, so we're just here to support and get Virgin Orbit back up".
Steve Double, MP for St Austell and Newquay, said: "It's gutting, everything was going so well. The plane took off, the rocket left the plane. Everything seemed to be going perfectly well and something in the final stages went wrong.
"I think it proves that space is hard"
"This isn't anything easy we're trying to do. It's disappointing that we haven't delivered that final bit. We need to learn what went wrong and learn from that. I really hope that we go again in the next few months".
Jordan Wright, who runs the 'Angry Astronaut' YouTube channel flew from South Carolina to watch the launch take off on Monday 9 January.
He told us: "Anomalies happen all the time. This is obviously something that does occur.
"This is a significant set back for the programme. This is something that really had to go off successfully. As a result now it's going to be up to people and the government and people at Virgin Orbit on whether or not people invest to give this another try.
"There will be a lot of people who lose faith"
"It's important that Britain try again, there's too much at stake here for Britain not to try again. But the truth is, people might not see it that way. I've already seen a lot of Tweets about what a waste of money and I think that sentiment is going to be echoed a lot in the days to come".
What happens now?
We are yet to get further updates from an investigation on what went wrong when LauncherOne went in to space and didn't make it into orbit.
Matt Archer from the UK Space Agency told us: "In terms of what I think has happened there's been a second stage anomaly. At this stage we don't know what caused that anomaly. That'll be part of the investigation that Virgin Orbit will be conducting in the days ahead with government departments.
"As soon as we know more we'll release that".
We will share more updates as we have them.