Today marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of Prospero. 'And what's that?' I hear you ask. Prospero is a 66 kg satellite, which is the only British-made spacecraft to be launched on a British-made launch vehicle. Forty years ago at 04.09 UTC on 28 October 1971, Prospero was lobbed into orbit by a Black Arrow launcher from the Woomera Test Range in South Australia (see gallery). And it still orbits today.
The occasion was a bitter-sweet event, as thereafter the UK launcher programme was cancelled and those working on the launcher project found themselves out of a job. The story is something of a local one for me as well, as I reside in Southampton, and the first and second stages of the Black Arrow launcher were manufactured by Westland in East Cowes
on the Isle of Wight just a few miles south across the narrow strip of water called the Solent. The launcher's rocket engines were also tested on top of the sea-facing cliffs just East of the Needles (striking chalk pinnacles rising from the Solent at the Western most tip of the Island). A couple of photos I took of the rocket test site can also be seen in the gallery, showing the location of the rocket test stands as they are today.
The occasion was a bitter-sweet event, as thereafter the UK launcher programme was cancelled and those working on the launcher project found themselves out of a job. The story is something of a local one for me as well, as I reside in Southampton, and the first and second stages of the Black Arrow launcher were manufactured by Westland in East Cowes
on the Isle of Wight just a few miles south across the narrow strip of water called the Solent. The launcher's rocket engines were also tested on top of the sea-facing cliffs just East of the Needles (striking chalk pinnacles rising from the Solent at the Western most tip of the Island). A couple of photos I took of the rocket test site can also be seen in the gallery, showing the location of the rocket test stands as they are today.
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