Excitement is building as Spaceport Cornwall is on the brink of creating history as the first facility to launch a satellite into space from UK soil.

People lucky enough to secure a ticket to watch the launch live have started gathering ahead of the momentous occasion.

Around 2,000 people have travelled to Spaceport Cornwall to watch the rocket carrying plane take off.

Rachel Morris from St Newlyn East said: “It is a moment in history I will be able to tell the grandchildren. My husband tells me how he went on Concorde from Newquay airport and it is great to be here.”

Owen, who works as a Government scientist, added: “It is great to be here attending the first satellite launch. It will bring the dream of space back to the shores of the UK.”

Rob said: “I’m really excited about the launch. The UK has a dynamic space industry and what the UK has not had before is launch capability. This launch will demonstrate the UK will be able to be a part of that."

Families set up their picnic chairs and sleeping bags eagerly awaiting the launch. Many others queued to buy Spaceport Cornwall merchandise. Around 100 police officers patrolled around the airport to ensure the takeoff went smoothly. Families danced the night away at a silent disco organised for the occasion.

A dedicated area set up at the airport for environmental protesters concerned about the impact of space launch and militarising space remained empty.

The excitement does not just belong to people who are watching. 

Many space systems engineers who have been working on building the satellites have been milling around excited about their years and months of work about to come to fruition.

Tal Horton-Horsman has been working on Space Forge’s satellite, which will be testing the deployment of a heat shield.He said: “We have been working on the Forge Zero technology for the past five months. It will be exciting seeing the satellite launched into space.”

Former Newquay Mayor Andy Hannan said: “The satellite launch has been on the national news all day. It has been putting Cornwall and Newquay on the map. The amount of interest it has generated in the county is incredible. It will bring jobs and money into the area. You cannot fault it.”   

Virgin Orbit is scheduled to launch its Cosmic Girl 747 aircraft from Cornwall Airport Newquay at around 10pm.

Cosmic Girl will carry LauncherOne, a 70-foot-long rocket packed full of satellites, to an altitude of roughly 35,000 ft before the rocket is 'horizontally' dropped one hour after take off between 10.54pm and 11.54pm.

The rocket will then engage its thrusters to launch itself into space at up to 17,500 mph, where it will deposit the satellites sometime between 1.15am and 1.30 am.

Cosmic Girl is earmarked to return to base between midnight and 1am. The satellite launch, aptly named the “Start Me Up” mission in honour of the Rolling Stones’ 1981 hit, will be Virgin Orbit’s first international launch and the first commercial launch from Western Europe.

 LauncherOne will carry seven payloads into Lower Earth Orbit, which will span a wide range of activities aimed at improving life on planet Earth, including reducing the environmental impact of production; preventing illegal trafficking, smuggling, and terrorism; and a host of national security functions.

This will include the first ever satellite launched by the Sultanate of Oman focused on Earth Observation; future-facing return satellite tech aboard Wales’ first satellite, built by Space Forge; a Maritime monitoring payload built by Horizon Technologies and the Satellite Applications Catapult; as well satellites from the MOD, DSTL and US National Reconnaissance Office.