Anand Mahindra lauds ISRO after Britain's space mission ends in failure

Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra on Tuesday took to Twitter to appreciate Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), hours after United Kingdom's attempt to launch the first satellite into orbit from Western Europe ended up in a failure.

"I recognise that this was a very different type of orbital launch but it stills tells me how much more we should appreciate and admire the launch record of @isro," the billionaire businessman tweeted in response to a news update on Britain's satellite launch.

Not just Mahindra, but netizens too praised ISRO as they were quick to respond to his tweet. "Absolutely sir. Many people don't understand how difficult it is. We should be proud of @isro," a user commented. "ISRO is an engineering marvel which surprises the world every time," said another.

"Indeed with all the respect Sir. @isro," a Twitter user replied.

Britain's attempt to become the first European nation to launch satellites into space ended in bitter disappointment early on Tuesday when Virgin Orbit said its rocket had suffered an anomaly that prevented it from reaching orbit, Reuters reported.

The "horizontal launch" mission had left from the coastal town of Newquay in southwest England, with Virgin's LauncherOne rocket carried under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 called "Cosmic Girl", and later released over the Atlantic Ocean.

"We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information," Virgin Orbit said in a tweet.

Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Dan Hart told reporters on Sunday that the company hoped to return to Newquay before the end of 2023, reported India Today.

"Over the coming days there will be an investigation by the government and various bodies, including Virgin Orbit," Matt Archer, Commercial Space Director at the UK Space Agency said.

Virgin Orbit, part-owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, had planned to deploy nine small satellites into lower Earth orbit (LEO) in its first mission outside its United States base.

The failure deals a further blow to European space ambitions after an Italian-built Vega-C rocket mission failed after lift-off from French Guiana in late December.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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