The film begins with the hijacking of a Drax Industries Moonraker in mid-air. The shuttle had been en route to the United Kingdom when the hijackers struck, igniting the shuttle's engines and destroying the 747 carrying it. During the course of the film it is revealed that the British Moonraker's theft was orchestrated by billionarire industrialist Hugo Drax because one of his original fleet developed a last-minute technical malfunction. The Moonraker shuttles were being used by Drax to ferry crew and equipment to his secret space station. From here Drax planned to annihilate the world's population, using 50 globes with a toxin derived from the Black Orchid plant capable of poisoning 100 million people.