A LARGE meteor was spotted in the skies about south Devon last night just hours before the launch of the first satellite mission from UK soil.

Reports came in from across the region of seeing a bright light shooting across the sky at about 8pm.

The Met Office confirmed that a meteor had been spotted after dozens of people took to social media to report what they had seen.

Photographs captured by automatic cameras as part of the UK Meteor Network (UKMON) showed an explosion of light cast across the sky at around 8.01pm.

Reports came from around the country.

One Twitter user said: ‘I’ve just seen a stunning meteor burning across the sky.

‘It was so low down and clear and beautiful, golden coloured.’

Just hours later the Virgin Orbit satellite’s launch in Cornwall ended in failure.

A jumbo jet carried a rocket out of Newquay to release it high over the Atlantic Ocean.

The rocket ignited and appeared to be ascending correctly.

But word then came from the company that the rocket had suffered an "anomaly".

The satellites it was carrying could not be released and were lost.

Cosmic Girl, the carrier 747 jet, returned safely to base.

The mission had been billed as a major milestone for UK space, marking the birth of a home-grown launch industry.

The ambition is to turn the country into a global player - from manufacturing satellites, to building rockets and creating new spaceports.

Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency, Ian Annett said it shows ‘how difficult’ getting into orbit actually is - but predicted further launches within the next 12 months.

Matt Archer, the agency's launch programme director said the issue occurred in the upper segment of the rocket.

‘The second-stage engine had a technical anomaly and didn’t reach the required orbit,’ he explained.