Virgin Orbit's first attempted launch from the UK failed due to an "anomaly" that caused a "premature shutdown".
Virgin said a fuel filter was "dislodged from its normal position" while the fuel pump downstream of the filter operated at "a degraded efficiency level", denying fuel to an engine. This caused the overheating and eventual malfunction of the engine, after which the second stage thrust stopped prematurely and the rocket's payloads fell and landed "in the approved safety corridor in the Atlantic Ocean".
The failed launch on January 9 entailed some firsts, however, according to Virgin, which said its team "successfully executed pre-flight preparations, carrier aircraft takeoff, captive carry flight, and rocket release", with ignition, first stage flight, stage separation, second stage ignition, and fairing deployment of the LauncherOne rocket given as "nominal".
"Each of these milestones constituted a first-of-its-kind achievement for any orbital launch attempt from western Europe. LauncherOne performed successfully on all four prior operational flights, accurately delivering 33 payloads to their required orbits," Virgin said.
Virgin said data had been gathered from ground stations in Ireland, Spain and the UK for the investigation, which will include oversight by regulators in the UK and US.
"Our investigation is not yet complete; the team is hard at work and we’ll pursue the cause and contributors to wherever the system analysis takes us," said Dan Hart, Virgin Orbit chief executive, ahead of the company's next launch from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, which it said is for a commercial customer.