Eyebrows had been raised not too long ago when it was revealed that Virgin Orbit acquired over £1 million final month from Cornwall Council.
As reported, the LauncherOne rocket system didn’t efficiently deploy satellites into orbit, with the mission failing. For the reason that failed launch from Cornwall, there was loads of hypothesis about how a lot public cash was spent and who funded the venture.
The council’s contract with Virgin Orbit
Cornwall Council’s contract register shows a contract with Virgin Orbit that’s price £1,163,102. This contract began on 18th January 2023, and ends on thirty first March of the identical 12 months, regardless of being awarded again in Might 2021.
Curiously, although, the Cupboard member for the financial system, Cllr Gardner, not too long ago denied that the council paid Virgin Orbit for the primary launch. So, what’s this cash for?
Virgin Orbit’s “advanced” settlement with Cornwall Council
Cllr defined that the council has a “advanced” association with Virgin Orbit, stating the next:
“We do have a business settlement with Virgin, and we pay for some issues, and Virgin pays for issues in return.
“What we’ve paid Virgin for is help in establishing the licence for the Spaceport. They helped us with the licensing and helped with a few of the floor operations. These issues stay in place for perpetuity.”
He added:
“Cornwall Council has targeted its funding within the Spaceport across the operations linked with the airport and the brand new operations amenities which have been offered in consequence.”
The place does the funding come from?
Not solely was Cllr very clear in stating the council had not paid for the failed launch, however he acknowledged that a lot of the funding got here from different UK authorities departments and the UK house company.
“Cllr German requested me if we paid Virgin for the launch, that reply was no, and it stays no. We didn’t pay for the launch.”
