Spaceport Cornwall

Spaceport Cornwall, located at Cornwall Airport Newquay in southwest England, is the UK's licensed horizontal launch spaceport — designed to support air-launched rocket systems that use modified aircraft as the first stage to carry small rocket upper stages to high altitude before igniting for orbital insertion, an approach pioneered commercially by Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne system.

Spaceport Cornwall received its operating license from the UK Civil Aviation Authority in November 2022, becoming one of the first UK spaceports licensed under the Space Industry Act 2018 regulatory framework. The spaceport's Cornwall Airport Newquay location provides the long runways required for modified Boeing 747 or equivalent carrier aircraft operations, with Atlantic Ocean airspace available for the drop point where the rocket is released from the aircraft at 35,000+ feet altitude before igniting.

Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne used Spaceport Cornwall for the historic January 2023 "Start Me Up" mission — the UK's first-ever orbital launch attempt. The mission launched successfully from Newquay's runway with the Cosmic Girl carrier aircraft taking LauncherOne aloft, but the second stage suffered an anomaly 10 minutes into flight that resulted in mission failure before achieving orbit. Despite the launch failure, the attempt demonstrated Spaceport Cornwall's operational readiness and infrastructure capability, and gave UK the distinction of having attempted orbital launch from its own soil. Virgin Orbit subsequently went bankrupt in 2023.

Following Virgin Orbit's closure, Spaceport Cornwall pivoted to offering its SSIO (Space Systems Integration and Operations) facilities, launch consultancy services, and co-working space for space companies — positioning as a broader commercial space innovation hub rather than exclusively a launch facility. The spaceport actively recruits new horizontal launch customers as the UK's horizontal launch ecosystem rebuilds, while also engaging with potential small vertical launch customers for its cleared airspace corridors.