1960s Black Arrow rocket resurrected to put UK back into space race
Britain is the only country ever to have developed a satellite-capable rocket only to junk it. Now Scots firm Skyrora are bringing Black Arrow out of retirement.
The UK’s first and only successful 1960s space rocket is coming out of retirement as the basis of a pioneering British push to become “the RAC of space”.
The Black Arrow rocket was the vehicle for Britain’s only satellite Prospero, which is still in orbit 54 years after its launch in 1971.
Now Black Arrow is forming the basis of the new “Skylark” rocket developed by Scottish firm Skyrora which is planning an entirely British space program which will not only launch small satellites from SaxaVord space port in Shetland but provide a ‘satellite breakdown service’. They are also hoping to act as space refuse collectors helping clear the tons of redundant orbiting debris.
Experts predict getting Britain back into space could be worth billions to the economy.
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The UK’s Black Arrow rocket was cancelled by Prime Minister Edward Heath in 1971 after the US offered Britain the use of its Scout rocket free of charge. As soon as the British space program was cancelled, however, the Americans withdrew their offer.
Derek Harris, Director of Business Development and Communications at Skyrora, said the Black Arrow cancellation had been short-sighted as the Brit technology had been cutting edge and was still hugely relevant today. He added: “Black Arrow was 50 years ahead of its time. When we brought one back from Australia - where the old launches took place - I noticed it had SCART cables… in the 60s.
“The rest of us didn’t get SCART cables until the 1990s , which gives you an idea just how far ahead it was.”
The technology has been updated by Skyrora where necessary but Derek says: “I would be quite happy to say that we are the grandchild of Black Arrow, we look up to her as a honoured grandfather.”
Astonishingly the bulk of the research and documentation for Britain’s post-war space program was deliberately destroyed after cancellation.
Derek said: “The biggest sin of the entire program was that basically, everything was placed in a dumpster and set on fire at the end of it.. for national security purposes. So all the documentation, all the working, was basically incinerated.
“We've been lucky enough to reach out to one or two of the last surviving engineers and, engineers being engineers, they’d kept a few mementos.
But most of the material was basically erased from history, which was a shame.”
Skyrora is a much smaller rocket than, say, Elon Musk’s SpaceX versions like Falcon-9 and Falcon Heavy. But it is much more manoeuvrable in orbit, which gives it a commercial edge.
After launch, commercial satellites can typically take three to six months to arrive at the precise position in orbit from where they actually begin to do their job.
Derek said: “The top stage of our vehicle can start and stop and manoeuvre which means we can drop satellites off at a particular point in space. We can get satellites in place in a matter of days rather than six months - and if it takes a satellite six months, that's possibly half a million pounds the client might be losing in revenue.
“Most rockets are like buses that get you in the right area, we are more a door-to-door taxi service.”
Britain, and especially Scotland, is quietly becoming a major player in the space business. Scotland, where Skyrora is based, is already the biggest satellite manufacturer in Europe and starting to give the big boys in the US and Russia and China a run for their money.
Derek said: “The satellite industry proves we just don't sing our praises very highly. That's a weird thing. The space sector as a whole is like the best-kept secret. But there’s no reason we couldn’t be world leaders again.”
Government grants are thin on the ground and, critics say, typically short-sighted given the scale of the burgeoning industry.
The amount available to the entire industry is not much north of £20m. By comparison a single launch of Elon Musk’s Falcon-9 is more than £50m.
But the entrepreneurial spirit of firms like Skyrora would warm a Brexiteer’s heart.
Derek said: “We started as five people in a room in Edinburgh with the point of putting Britain back into space.
“I have to say sometimes we feel we are the only stakeholder who really really wants that, but we are very driven.
“And never underestimate how much the Brits, and especially the Scots, love and underdog - the more you tell us we can’t do something the more we will make it happen.”
