Virgin says fuel pump problems caused recent UK orbital launch failure

Virgin Orbit’s first attempted launch from the UK failed due to an “anomaly” that caused a “premature shutdown”. Virgin said a fuel filter was “dislodged from its normal position” while the fuel pump downstream of the filter operated at “a degraded efficiency level”, denying fuel to an engine. This caused the overheating and eventual malfunction of the engine, after which the second stage thrust stopped prematurely and the rocket’s payloads fell and landed “in the approved safety corridor in the Atlantic Ocean”. The failed launch on January 9 entailed some firsts, however, according to Virgin, which said its team “successfully