Thousands of people are expected to descend on Cornwall to witness the first orbital rocket launch from UK soil, in what is being heralded as the start of a "new era" for the British space industry.
The Start Me Up mission will take off on Monday night from Spaceport Cornwall if there are no last-minute technical problems.
It will be a triumph for the spaceport, which has faced skepticism over the years that such an adventure could be launched from an area more associated with surfing than hi-tech projects.
The head of Spaceport Cornwall, who is based in a corner of Newquay airport, said she thought she would be nervous, but she was confident and focused.
She said it was a good story that started eight years ago with not many people believing in it.
She hopes people will feel inspired and proud of how they are representing Cornwall in the world. There is a lot of bad news out there. It's exciting, different, and a bit of an underestimation.
He was asked if the project would lead to people travelling to space from Cornwall.
She said that they are focused on satellite launch right now. It is difficult before you add humans to that. There is a lot going on in the tourism side of the spaceport and we are interested in human space flight. The opportunities will be looked at.
She said that she had been inspired by looking at the northern lights. There was a spark in the night sky. What are we going to find out there?
She thought the team in charge of the launch would be surprised at how many people showed up to see it.
The Cornish launch sold out within two hours, with a silent disco to keep the blood pumping on a cold night.
At the center of the mission is a Boeing jumbo jet called Cosmic Girl that is fitted with a rocket. After taking off from Spaceport Cornwall, the rocket will fly over the Atlantic and land in Ireland.
The plane will come back to the spaceport and the rocket will take the small satellites into space. Europe will be the first to send satellites into space.
The deputy head of the UK Space Agency said it was a new era for space. The industry employed 47,000 people in the UK. He said that this would lead to new careers, improved productivity and inspire the next generation of space professionals.
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The CEO of Virgin Orbit said Monday night was looking good but they would only launch if they were certain everything was perfect.
He said that the rocket was armed and that they would be loading fuel. We're in full motion and ready to go.
They would delay the launch if they saw something interesting. We will look very closely if winds or precipitation are present. We are going to be very careful. The team is smiling, but their eyes are focused on something else.
Hart said that they keep an eye on crosswinds because they have a rocket under the wing.
The project was positive for the UK and Cornwall. There is something about knowing someone down the block is working on a space flight mission that breaks the barriers and makes it go from being something that is far away to something that is around the corner.
One of our missions is to open up space to everyone, since space has become such an incredible part of our life, from the way we communicate to the way we navigate to the way we comprehend our world and the heavens beyond. Someone else does space, but not anymore. It's what communities do around the world.
Hart said that he would say pasties versus hamburgers. It's a significant change.
In terms of the tech and how we operate it is a little different to Mojave, but the team is doing the same thing.
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