SPACEPORT CORNWALL announced in September that the window for the first space launch from UK soil opened on 29 October, later than the earlier schedule of the end of summer. Earlier this year, it was announced that military cubesats would be the first payloads to be launched into space from UK soil. Dates of the summer were given first and later, by the end of the summer, indicating a September timeframe. Both Virgin Orbit and Spaceport Cornwall need government licences to operate space launch but neither had been awarded one by the third week of September. The payload, the Prometheus 2 cubesats, only completed testing on 13 September. Virgin Orbit did not reply to inquiries but Spaceport Cornwall did. "We are hoping for the license confirmation... between 26 September and 7 October in the next couple of weeks. We are opening the Satellite Integration Facility officially next week during the week of 26 September," said Spaceport Cornwall. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the UK's regulatory body for space, it will approve the licenses. The CAA said: "Unfortunately we cannot comment on ongoing applications." It was on 10 May this year that the then defence procurement Minister, Jeremy Ouin, announced a summer launch for Prometheus 2.
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