Space Launch Now - Black Arrow

Black Arrow

In-active

Royal Aircraft Establishment ()

June 27, 1969

Description

Black Arrow was a British satellite carrier rocket. Developed during the 1960s, it was used for four launches between 1969 and 1971. Its final flight was the first and only successful orbital launch to be conducted by the United Kingdom, and placed the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit.

Specifications

Stages
3
Length
13.0 m
Diameter
2.0 m
Fairing Diameter
2.0 m
Launch Mass
18.0 T
Thrust
256.0 kN

Family

Name
Black Arrow
Family
―
Variant
―
Alias
―
Full Name
Black Arrow

Payload Capacity

Launch Cost
―
Low Earth Orbit
135.0 kg
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
―
Direct Geostationary
―
Sun-Synchronous Capacity
―

Royal Aircraft Establishment

Government

None

1904

The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.

Previous Flights

flew on two previous launch(es).

Black Arrow | Prospero

Royal Aircraft Establishment | United Kingdom
RAAF Woomera Range Complex
Oct. 28, 1971, 4:09 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

British scientific satellite used to demonstrate technologies needed for communication satellites.

Low Earth Orbit

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Black Arrow | X-2

Royal Aircraft Establishment | United Kingdom
RAAF Woomera Range Complex
Sept. 2, 1970, 12:34 a.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Uninstrumented spherical satellite meant to enable atmospheric density measurements by observing its orbital decay. It was destroyed in the failure of the first Black Arrow orbital launch failure.

Low Earth Orbit

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Recent Launches