Cosmic GirlImage source, Reuters
Image caption, Using a plane to carry a rocket part way into the sky is termed a "horizontal launch system"

The first ever British space launch is about to take place.

On Monday, a jumbo jet will release a rocket over the Atlantic to take nine satellites high above the Earth.

The start of the operation will take place at the airport in Cornwall.

It will mark the birth of a home-grown launch industry if it succeeds.

"What we've seen over the last eight years is this building of excitement towards something very aspirational and different for Cornwall, something that started off as a project that not a lot of people really believed was ever going to happen, and that's what we've seen over the last

There is a small team of people that live and breathe Cornwall and deliver something incredible.

Map

This is the first time that a launch from the UK is being done by a company founded by Sir Richard Branson.

One of the British entrepreneurs' old passenger airliners was converted to carry a rocket under its left wing.

The launch zone for the jumbo jet will be off the coast of the Irish counties of Kerry andCork.

At an altitude of 35,000 feet, the Virgin jet will release the rocket, which will ignite its first-stage engine to begin the climb to space.

Media caption,

There is an exclusive look inside the Cosmic Girl plane.

Virgin Orbit's carrier plane, nicknamed Cosmic Girl, was given a rare chance to be looked at by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Everything on the lower deck has been stripped out in order to save weight.

Two flight engineers are upstairs to watch the launch. The cockpit is largely unchanged except for the addition of a small red button that will release the rocket.

Stannard will be the lead pilot, sitting in the left seat, while he is on secondment.

He said that they would be watching the rocket to make sure it was healthy.

A terminal count procedure is what we entered. Things get more interesting when we go through that sequence of pressurising the tank and chilling the lines.

When the rocket says 'I'm ready to go', it's my job to make sure the plane is in the right spot.

Prometheus-2Image source, DSTL/In-Space
Image caption, Two of the satellites, called Prometheus-2, will test novel radio and imaging technologies

Four successful rocket launches have been carried out by Virgin Orbit over the Pacific Ocean. The flights took place from the Mojave Air and Space Port.

The team has moved to Cornwall to set up a new control.

It will be a complex operation according to Deenah.

She said that there were three different launch systems.

There are people in the control room that specialize in each area of the control room.

Dan Hart joked that there wasn't much difference between how his team would operate for the UK flight and how they would operate for the US flight. He said that it was a little different than Mojave, but that the team was turning the wrench in the same way.

Newquay AirportImage source, Pléiades/Airbus
Image caption, A corner of Newquay Airport has been given over to Spaceport Cornwall activities

Nine small satellites will be released into the sky if the launch is a success.

Ocean monitoring is one of the civil and military applications they have.

Space Forge is a company based in Wales. Satellites can be used to make high value materials and components.

"For the first time, the UK has all the pieces of the jigsaw to be able to design, develop, and operate satellites," said Josh Western, CEO of Space Forge.

The mission of this rocket is just the beginning of the UK's future strategy for space.

Skyrora and Orbex are leading the way in building rockets that go straight up from the ground.

The vehicles are expected to be in the far north by the end of the year.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.