Investigation Concludes Dislodged Fuel Filter to Blame For LauncherOne Flight Failure

After a long investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), it has been concluded that a dislodged fuel filter caused the failure of the LauncherOne flight that was due to release rockets to launch over the Atlantic Ocean.

The flight was a high-profile event due to Virgin Orbit’s high profile and the fact that this would have been the first-ever satellite mission from UK soil to succeed, but the fuel filter has been pinned as the cause of the failure.

AAIB said that it is “likely” that the fuel filter that is situated within a hose that transfers fuel had dislodged.

The report explained that: “The mission proceeded as expected until the beginning of the first burn of the second stage engine when it is likely that a fuel filter within the fuel feedline dislodged from its normal position. This led to a series of events that caused the second stage engine to shut down prematurely, and the reduction of thrust meant the stage fell back to Earth.”

How a Fuel Filter Led to LauncherOne Failure

AAIB investigators also explained the details of what they thought happened in more detail:

“From the beginning of the first burn of the second stage engine, it is likely that a fuel filter within the fuel feedline dislodged from its normal position. This conclusion was supported by ground testing that matched the observed flight data. This caused the fuel pump downstream of the filter to operate at degraded efficiency, resulting in fuel flow to the Newton 4 engine being lower than expected. This, in turn, caused the engine to operate at a temperature significantly higher than expected.”

With the increased temperature, the engine malfunctioned and caused the second stage engine to completely shut down before crashing down in the approved flight corridor in the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Canary Islands.

Cosmic Girl was the name of the modified 747 jet, which was then returned safely to base. The LauncherOne mission was significant in the history of UK space and especially private space exploration as it was in many ways the birth of an industry. It will now be considered something of a false start, but still played its role in paving the way for future launches from British soil.