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☆ Spaceport locals say rocket launch by billionaire Richard Branson boosted their farming community and put the area on the map
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Virgin Orbit's rocket broke down, but residents said the launch will put Cornwall on the map. Kate Duffy/InsiderSue and Paul Nuttall, who were looking to retire soon, told Insider that Virgin Orbit's launch was needed to put Cornwall, a farming county, on the map. Hosting Virgin Orbit's launch will hopefully keep children like Seth who are interested in space in Cornwall, Emma said. Virgin Orbit's mission was set to be the UK's first orbital space launch from UK soil. In a press conference on Sunday, Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, said she hopes residents feel proud of Cornwall "going to the stars."

☆ I was at Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit launch. It felt like a festival with its silent disco and food trucks, but the excitement plummeted when the launch failed — and Branson watched from his privat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Despite the electric atmosphere, there was one prominent person missing: Richard Branson. His representative said Branson was unable to join the team in person but was cheering them on and "glued to the action." Virgin Orbit

☆ Virgin Orbit Satellite Mission Fails, Sending Shares Down
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Benjamin Katz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft carrying Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket prepared for take off at Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay, in the U.K., on Monday. LONDON— Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc.’s first effort to send a satellite into space from outside the U.S. failed, marking a blow to billionaire Richard Branson’s ambition to compete in the rapidly growing market for commercial satellite launches. Shares of the company, listed on the Nasdaq exchange, fell more than 20% in off-hours trading on Monday after the company said an anomaly had prevented its satellites from reaching orbit.

☆ Virgin Orbit Fails to Lift Satellite Load Into Orbit From Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Michael Wright | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON—A Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. rocket carrying satellites from the U.K. failed to reach orbit after it suffered an anomaly over the Atlantic Ocean, a blow to Richard Branson’s ambitions in the growing market for commercial satellite launches. The rocket reached space but experienced an anomaly before it could achieve its target orbit. Cosmic Girl returned safely to Space Cornwall with the flight crew. Shares in Virgin Orbit, which are listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, fell 21% in off-hours trading after the problem was disclosed. The Start Me Up mission, named after the hit Rolling Stones’ song, marked the first international mission for Virgin Orbit and its first commercial launch from Western Europe.

☆ Virgin Orbit reports ‘anomaly’ in satellite launch from U.K.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A mission to launch the first satellites into orbit from Western Europe suffered an “anomaly” Tuesday, Virgin Orbit said. We are evaluating the information,” Virgin Orbit said on Twitter. Virgin Orbit, which is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, was founded by British billionaire Richard Branson. Ian Annett, deputy chief executive at the U.K. Space Agency, said Monday it marked a “new era” for his country’s space industry. The mission was a collaboration between the U.K. Space Agency, the Royal Air Force, Virgin Orbit and Cornwall Council.

☆ Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit says its rocket suffered an 'anomaly,' stopping it from taking 9 satellites to orbit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Virgin Orbit said it has experienced an "anomaly" with its rocket during a UK space mission. The "Start Me Up" satellite mission was scheduled for Monday from Spaceport Cornwall at Cornwall Airport Newquay in southern England. About half an hour later, Virgin Orbit tweeted: "We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. Richard Branson's company previously wrote on Twitter that its LauncherOne rocket had successfully reached orbit, but later tweeted that didn't happen and it would remove the post. Matt Archer, commercial space director at the UK Space Agency, told reporters on Monday that he was "disappointed, but proud of what we've achieved."

☆ Britain's satellite hopes undimmed by mission failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Spectators gather around a replica rocket at Cornwall Airport Newquay to watch the first ever UK launch of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket from Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay, Britain, January 9, 2023. REUTERS/Henry NichollsLONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Britain's hopes of becoming a leading destination for the launch of small satellites remain intact despite the failure of the first mission, the country's business minister Grant Shapps said on Tuesday. Hours after the plan to launch nine satellites ended when Virgin Orbit's (VORB.O) rocket suffered an anomaly which prevented it from reaching orbit, Shapps said another attempt would follow. The rocket was successfully released over the Atlantic from a Boeing 747 that took off from Newquay airport in western England. For Virgin Orbit, part-owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, it is the second failure since its first launch in 2020.

☆ English resort counts down to western Europe’s first satellite launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

NEWQUAY, England, — An English surfing resort was counting down to the first launch of orbital satellites into space from western Europe on Monday, when Virgin Orbit’s mission will transform the Cornish town of Newquay into the country’s first spaceport. The “horizontal” launch will catapult the resort in southwest England, population 20,000 and famous for its reliable waves rolling off the Atlantic, into the limelight as western Europe’s go-to destination for small satellites. Virgin Orbit, part-owned by billionaire Richard Branson, said nine satellites would be deployed into lower Earth orbit (LEO) from its LauncherOne rocket in its first mission outside its United States base. “Assuming that everything continues to look good we’re currently tracking well for launch,” a Virgin Orbit spokeswoman said on Sunday. The LEO sector is growing rapidly, spurred by satellite broadband companies such as Elon Musk’s Starlink, Amazon and London-headquartered OneWeb.

☆ Western Europe's first satellite launch mission takes off
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/6] Technicians work on Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, attached to the wing of Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft, ahead of UK's First launch, at Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport in Newquay, Britain, January 8, 2023. REUTERS/Henry NichollsSummarySummary Companies Converted Boeing 747 takes off from Newquay, CornwallRocket will be deployed over the Atlantic in next hour'Start Me Up' mission will deploy nine small satellitesNEWQUAY, England, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Virgin Orbit's "Cosmic Girl" carrier aircraft took off from Newquay's spaceport in Cornwall, southwest England on Monday night, the initial stage of Western Europe's first ever satellite launch. More than 2,000 space fans cheered when the aircraft left the runway. The "horizontal" launch has catapulted the resort in southwest England - population 20,000 and famous for its reliable Atlantic waves - into the limelight as Western Europe's go-to destination for small satellites. ($1 = 0.8213 pounds)Additional reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Nick Macfie and Sandra Maler, Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Virgin Orbit stock plummets after failure of its first UK rocket launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Virgin Orbit stock fell in trading on Monday evening, after the company confirmed that its first launch out of the United Kingdom failed to reach orbit. Shares of Virgin Orbit fell as much as 30% in after-hours trading, from its previous close of $1.93 a share. Virgin Orbit's webcast showed its LauncherOne rocket released and fired its engine, with the company saying in a tweet that the rocket "successfully reached Earth orbit." Virgin Orbit is reviewing the launch data to identify the source of the failure, and acknowledged that it deleted the tweet about reaching orbit. Monday's mission was Virgin Orbit's sixth to date, and its second launch failure.

☆ The first ever orbital space launch from the UK is due to take off on Monday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The modified Boeing 747 plane, named "Cosmic Girl", will take off from Spaceport Cornwall in southwest England. LONDON — The first orbital rocket launch in Western Europe is set to take place in the U.K. on Monday evening. Virgin Orbit had lowered its forecast for launches in 2022 to three, having initially expected to make between four and six earlier in the year. On announcing its third-quarter results for 2022 in November, Virgin Orbit also said it raised $25 million to boost its depleting cash reserve. Shares of Virgin Orbit hit a three-week high Friday, trading at $2.11.

☆ Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit is set to launch the first orbital rocket from UK soil on Monday. Watch live as the rocket drops from a Boeing 747.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit is set to launch the first orbital space rocket from British soil. Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said the crew will proceed cautiously in case winds or lightning set in. Watch the historic rocket launch live on Virgin Orbit's YouTube page below. Livestream: Watch Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl take off and release the rocketWatch the historical rocket launch live on Virgin Orbit's YouTube livestream below, starting at 4:30 p.m. Cosmic Girl, a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 aircraft, is expected to take off from Spaceport Cornwall between 5:16 p.m.

☆ Virgin Orbit counts down to first space launch ever from UK soil
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Virgin Orbit is about to conduct the first ever space launch from the United Kingdom. It will also mark the first launch of commercial satellites from western Europe, and the first international launch for Virgin Orbit. Dan Hart, chief executive of Virgin Orbit, described the UK mission as a “historic endeavor.”“This launch represents the opening of a new era in the British space industry and new partnerships across industry, government, and allies,” he said in a statement released Friday. The mission, named “Start Me Up” after the Rolling Stones’ 1981 song, is a joint venture between Virgin Orbit, the UK Space Agency, Cornwall’s local government and the UK’s Royal Air Force. The country’s £16.5 billion ($20 billion) space industry directly supported about 47,000 jobs between 2019 and 2020, according to the latest available government figures.

☆ English resort counts down to western Europe's first satellite launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Henry Nicholls | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Henry NichollsNEWQUAY, England, Jan 9 (Reuters) - An English surfing resort was counting down to the first launch of orbital satellites into space from western Europe on Monday, when Virgin Orbit's mission will transform the Cornish town of Newquay into the country's first spaceport. The "horizontal" launch will catapult the resort in southwest England, population 20,000 and famous for its reliable waves rolling off the Atlantic, into the limelight as western Europe's go-to destination for small satellites. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket, designed to carry large satellites, has also had delays. "Assuming that everything continues to look good we're currently tracking well for launch," a Virgin Orbit spokeswoman said on Sunday. The LEO sector is growing rapidly, spurred by satellite broadband companies such as Elon Musk's Starlink, Amazon and London-headquartered OneWeb.

☆ Richard Branson says Elon Musk made a surprise visit in the middle of the night with his 2-year-old son hours before his first space flight
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Richard Branson told The Sunday Times that Elon Musk made a surprise visit to his New Mexico home. A barefoot Musk wanted to wish Branson luck on the flight and brought his 2-year-old son along too. "I think it was about 2:30 a.m.," Branson told The Sunday Times, recalling the morning of July 11, 2022, ahead of his flight to space. "Elon had decided to surprise us" to wish his friend luck on his debut flight, Branson told the newspaper. The SpaceX CEO also went to the launch site to watch the flight and later told Branson: "Congratulations, beautiful flight."

☆ Richard Branson left school at 15—his headmaster said he'd either 'go to prison' or 'become a millionaire’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

When billionaire Richard Branson was 15, he dropped out of school to run a magazine. The headmaster at Branson's school was taken aback by his persuasiveness, and offered a prediction and a warning. "[I knew] I could pay for the printing of the paper and manufacturing, and so I quit school … with the headmaster saying, 'You're either going to prison or you're going to become a millionaire,'" Branson, 72, said on the podcast. Branson hasn't spent any time behind bars, but he has an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, as of Thursday morning. In a 2019 blog post, Branson wrote that dyslexia is often associated with high levels of creativity and problem-solving abilities.

☆ SpaceX to raise $750 million at $137 billion valuation - CNBC
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX is raising $750 million in a new round of funding that values the rocket and satellite company at $137 billion from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, CNBC reported late Monday. SpaceX, which counts Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Fidelity Investments among its investors, had raised about $1.68 billion through equity financing in June. Spokespersons for SpaceX and Horowitz did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Horowitz was also a co-investor in Musk's Twitter buyout deal worth $44 billion. SpaceX has launched numerous cargo payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

☆ Virgin Orbit: The UK just took a step closer to space flight
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —The United Kingdom is one step closer to conducting its first ever satellite launch from its own shores. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), a regulatory body, said on Wednesday that it had granted the final licenses to Virgin Orbit to carry out the launch. The company has already conducted four successful satellite launch missions in this way from California. “Today we are one step closer to opening the UK’s galactic gateway, with Virgin Orbit receiving an historic first license to allow the UK’s first ever spaceflight launch,” UK transport secretary Mark Harper said in a statement on Wednesday. The CAA said it granted Virgin Orbit the final remaining licenses after it met all necessary safety, security and environmental tests.

☆ Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit gets green light for first orbital space launch from UK — and will use a repurposed Boeing 747 for the mission
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit gained a license for the first orbital space launch from the UK. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK's space regulator, announced in a statement on Wednesday that Virgin Orbit was permitted to launch from Spaceport Cornwall in southern England. Issuing the final license to Virgin Orbit for the UK's first orbital satellite launch was another "major milestone," the CAA said in the statement. Virgin Orbit didn't respond to Insider's request for comment about the new launch date. Virgin Orbit has named the mission "Start Me Up" after a song by The Rolling Stones.

☆ It's Not ChatGBT's Time to Shine — yet. Here's Why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Within weeks of taking over, he dramatically transformed Twitter's company culture and started major projects — seemingly with one foot already out the door. Although a successful future for any technology is not guaranteed, ChatGPT feels like a tipping point for generative AI. Roomba, an automatic vacuum cleaner, took multiple sensitive photos that were shared on social media. After short-video apps like TikTok became the dominant platforms for fans to listen to new songs in 2022, music-industry execs are now setting their sights on social media as the next big money-making opportunity. Here are 15 power players using social media to shape the music industry.

☆ How billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson spend their vacations, from cruising on yachts to visiting private islands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Vacations look a little different for the world's billionaire executives. For Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt, cruising in a luxury yacht may be on the agenda. But for the wealthy and powerful, vacations look a little different. Or there's Tim Cook, Apple's billionaire CEO, who spends his time away from running the iPhone-maker exploring America's national parks. Take a look at how some of the nation's most high-powered billionaire execs spend their vacations.

Page purchased Hans Lollik and its smaller neighboring island, Little Hans Lollik, in 2014 for $23 million. The Hans Lollik Islands in the US Virgin Islands were bought by Larry Page in 2014 cdwheatley/Getty ImagesPage purchased the islands from Liberty Bankers Life Insurance Company using a limited-liability company called Virgin Island Properties LLC. Page's intentions for the Hans Lollik islands are unclear, but the larger island of the two may have personal significance for the Google cofounder. In the deposition, Osborne hinted that Larry proposed to his wife, the research scientist Lucinda Southworth, on Hans Lollik. Page expands to the South PacificIn 2020, Page added another island to his portfolio: the heart-shaped Tavarua island in Fiji's Mamanuca archipelago.

☆ The co-founder of Europe's first Black VC Fund on how he transformed his life, and his plan to help Black founders "build the impossible"
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Fahiemah Al-Ali | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe co-founder of Europe's first Black VC Fund on how he transformed his life, and his plan to help Black founders "build the impossible"Black Seed's Karl Lokko, the co-founder and chairman of Europe's first Black-led for Black-founders venture capital fund, says he's on a mission to find South London's next Black unicorn. The UK native opens up to CNBC in a candid conversation about his transformational journey from gang leader to climbing Mont Blanc with Sir Richard Branson, how mastering the art of 'code-switching' led to access within the tapestry of London society, and why Brixton could become the "Black Silicon Valley."

☆ Billionaire-backed KoBold Metals to invest in Zambia copper mine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Mingomba contains 247 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 3.64% copper, according to KoBold. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema wants to boost the country's copper production to 3 million tonnes a year by 2032, from around 850,000 tonnes currently. As Africa's second-largest producer of copper, Zambia is highly dependent on mining. "Our message to the world is that Zambia is here, and is open for business," Hichilema said as he announced the deal at the summit. The deal, which will grant KoBold a majority stake in Mingomba, is set to close in the first quarter of 2023.

☆ Germany calls for global regulation of crypto industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Germany's top regulator this week called for global regulation of the cryptocurrency industry to protect consumers, prevent money laundering and preserve financial stability. Branson said a "crypto spring" may follow what has been a "crypto winter" but that the industry that emerges is likely to have more links with traditional finance, further increasing the need for regulation. "Now is the time for serious cryptocurrency regulation," he said. Regulation of the industry has been loose and patchwork. Last month he said in an interview on the ECB's website that "not all crypto business models are serious".

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