Black Arrow
Template:Short description Template:Other uses Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox rocket <section begin=BA-rocketry/> Black Arrow, officially capitalised BLACK ARROW,<ref name="Gibson">Gibson and Buttler 2007, Template:Page needed.</ref> was a British satellite expendable launch system.
Black Arrow originated from studies by the Royal Aircraft Establishment for carrier rockets based on the earlier Black Knight rocket;<ref name="Millard"/> the project was authorised by the British government in late 1964. Development of Black Arrow was largely performed by the prime contractor, the British aerospace company Saunders-Roe, and later undertaken by Westland Aircraft as the result of a merger. Both the first and second stage engines were produced by Bristol Siddeley at their factory in Ansty, Warwickshire. Assembly of the first and second stages was carried out at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Once manufactured, each Black Arrow vehicle was transported by ship to Australia prior to being launched from the RAAF Woomera Range Complex.
Black Arrow was a three-stage rocket, fuelled by RP-1 paraffin (kerosene) and high-test peroxide, a concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide (85% hydrogen peroxide + 15% water).<ref name="timeshift"/> While the first two stages featured thrust vectoring to provide attitude control,<ref name="Millard"/> the third stage did not have an attitude control system, and instead relied upon spin stabilization along with a reaction control system. The first stage was designed to be compatible with Blue Streak, as well as to be interchangeable with Coralie.<ref name="Hill 2006 131"/> Furthermore, several derivatives of Black Arrow were proposed to provide for increased payload capacity.
A total of four launches of Black Arrow were performed between 1969 and 1971, the first two being demonstration flights to prove the launcher's capabilities. While the first and third flights were failures, the second and fourth flights were successful. Black Arrow's final flight placed the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit, making it the first and only successful orbital launch to be conducted by the United Kingdom.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/> British officials decided to discontinue the programme in favour of using American Scout rockets instead, the Ministry of Defence having calculated this option to be cheaper than continuing with Black Arrow.<ref name="cancellation"/><section end=BA-rocketry/> The final Black Arrow to be completed, which never flew, has been preserved intact at the Science Museum, London, along with the flight spare for the Prospero satellite.
Development
Black Arrow originated from a Royal Aircraft Establishment proposal for a rocket capable of placing a Template:Convert payload into low Earth orbit,Template:No orbit for payload inline in order to test systems designed for larger spacecraft.<ref name="Hill 2006 188">Hill 2006, p. 188.</ref> In the autumn of 1964, the programme was authorised by Conservative Aviation Minister Julian Amery.<ref name="Hill 2006 227">Hill 2006, p. 227.</ref> Then, following a general election in October, the incoming Labour government put the project on hold to reduce expenditure.<ref name="F4">Template:Cite web</ref> Following another election, the British government approved the continuation of the programme with several modifications, including the reduction of the test programme from five to three launches. The maiden launch was set for 1968.<ref name="F5">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name = "harvey 84">Harvey 2003, p. 84.</ref>
Initial development was conducted by the British aerospace manufacturer Saunders-Roe, which merged into Westland Aircraft in 1964.<ref name="Hill 2006 22193">Hill 2006, pp. 22, 193.</ref> Westland was subsequently the prime contractor for the Black Arrow, and assembled the first and second stages at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, later testing the rockets from the 1950s up until the rocket launch on 28 October 1971.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The British powerplant specialist Bristol Siddeley produced the first and second stage engines at a factory in Ansty, Warwickshire.<ref name="Hill 2006 2930">Hill 2006, pp. 29-30.</ref> The engines were test fired at the factory before being shipped to the Isle of Wight, where they were integrated into the rocket and the first stage engines were fired again at High Down.<ref name="HighDown">Template:Cite web</ref> Bristol Aerojet produced the third stage in Somerset, while the Explosives Research and Development Establishment produced its solid propellant in Waltham Abbey, Essex.<ref name="Millard"/> The Rocket Propulsion Establishment, based in Westcott, Buckinghamshire, was responsible for the design and integration of the stage.<ref name="Millard">Millard 2001, Template:Page needed.</ref><ref name = "harvey 20">Harvey 2003, p. 20.</ref>
The majority of the technology and systems used on Black Arrow had already been developed or flight-proven on the Black Knight rocket, or the Blue Steel missile.<ref name="Millard"/> Black Arrow was designed to reuse as much technology from the earlier programmes as possible in order to reduce costs, and simplify the development process.<ref name = "harvey 37">Harvey 2003, p. 37.</ref> Many senior staff of the Black Knight programme transferred directly to Black Arrow, including the Chief Missile Scientist Roy Dommett, the Chief Design Engineer Ray Wheeler, and the Deputy Chief Engineer John Underwood.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref> Despite this effort, the programme encountered more difficulties and greater costs than had originally been anticipated.<ref name="Hill 2006 213">Hill 2006, p. 213.</ref> This outcome was in no small part due to the austere budget of £3 million per year.<ref name = "harvey 84">Harvey 2003, p. 84.</ref><ref name = "Hill 2006 52">Hill 2006, p. 52.</ref>
The name Black Arrow came from the Ministry of Supply policy of assigning designations consisting of a colour and a noun, unofficially known as Rainbow Codes, to research programmes conducted by the Armed Forces.<ref name="Gibson"/><ref name="Hill 2006 16">Hill 2006, p. 16.</ref> Despite this naming convention, the programme was officially a civilian venture.<ref name="Hill 2006 16197">Hill 2006, pp. 16, 197.</ref> It was unofficially nicknamed the "Lipstick Rocket", as the fairing, which was painted bright red for visibility, made the rocket resemble a tube of lipstick.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Vehicle
Black Arrow was a relatively compact launch vehicle, being particularly slender as well as possibly being the shortest rocket ever to place a satellite into orbit.<ref name = "harvey 86"/> The first and second stages of the Black Arrow were fuelled by RP-1 paraffin (kerosene), burnt using high test peroxide as an oxidiser.<ref name="timeshift"/><ref name = "harvey 846">Harvey 2003, pp. 84-86.</ref> Due to the optimum mixture ratio being about 7, a larger oxidiser tank was required compared to many contemporary launch systems.<ref name="EA-Prop">Template:Cite web</ref> The oxidiser tanks were located below the fuel tanks, following the practice of putting the more dense propellant at the top in order move the centre of gravity higher and make the rocket more stable, when in flight,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and thus easier to control.<ref name="Millard"/> This arrangement had been pioneered by Germany and the United States, whereas the Soviet Union had placed oxidiser tanks above fuel tanks, making it easier to fill the lower tank first.<ref name="Soyuz">Template:Cite web</ref>
Thrust vectoring was used to provide attitude control on the first two stages.<ref name="Millard"/> The eight first stage combustion chambers were arranged in pairs which could gimbal either way along one axis.<ref name="Millard"/> Two of the pairs were arranged perpendicular to the other two, and when all four pairs were used together, they provided roll, pitch, and yaw control.<ref name="Millard"/> The second stage had two combustion chambers, which could gimbal along two axes, providing the same level of control. During a coast phase after second stage cut-off, the rocket was controlled by a reaction control system.<ref name="Millard"/> The third stage did not have an attitude control system, and was instead spin-stabilised.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen">Hill 2006, Template:Page needed.</ref> The guidance system used was derived from that of the cancelled BAC TSR-2 bomber.<ref name = "harvey 86">Harvey 2003, p. 86.</ref>
The first stage was powered by a single Gamma 8 engine, which burned for 127 seconds.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/> The Gamma 8 was an eight-chamber engine, derived from the Gamma 301 engine used on the Black Knight.<ref name="Hill 2006 38">Hill 2006, p. 38.</ref> It was Template:Convert long, and had a diameter of Template:Convert, the same diameter as the French Coralie.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/> Coralie was used as the second stage of the Europa rocket. Black Arrow had the same diameter as Coralie to make it compatible with Blue Streak, which was used as the first stage of Europa.<ref name="Hill 2006 131"/> This would have allowed Black Arrow's payload capacity to have been increased, and would also have allowed Britain to use the first stage of Black Arrow as a backup to the Coralie.<ref name="UKSpace-diagram">Template:Cite web</ref> For this reason, all dimensions in the original specification were given in imperial units except the first stage diameter, which was given in metric units.<ref name="Hill 2006 131">Hill 2006, p. 131.</ref>
The first and second stages were connected by an interstage structure containing four Siskin IB separation and ullage motors, which separated and ignited seven seconds after the first stage had cut off.<ref name="Millard"/><ref name="SpaceUK-Solids">Template:Cite web</ref> The interstage separated from the second stage six seconds later. The second stage, which was Template:Convert long and measured Template:Convert in diameter, was powered by a two-chamber Gamma 2 engine<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which ignited shortly after the separation motors, and continued to burn for 123 seconds.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/> Three minutes after launch, during the second stage burn, the payload fairing separated.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/>
About 257 seconds into the flight, the second stage cut off, and the rocket entered a coast phase to apogee.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/> Immediately after cut-off, the second stage attitude control system was pressurised. During the coast the correct orientation for third stage separation was maintained by means of the attitude control system.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/> Towards the end of the coast period, the third stage was spun up to a rate of 3 hertz (180 rpm) by means of six Imp rockets.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/> Five seconds later, the third stage separated,<ref name="Millard"/> and following ten more seconds of coasting, it ignited. The third stage was a Waxwing solid rocket motor, which burned for 55 seconds.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/>
Just over a minute after the third stage had burned out, the payload was released, and gas generators were used to push the spacecraft and spent upper stage apart.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/> The delay between burnout and separation was intended to reduce the risk of recontact between the upper stage and payload due to residual thrust. Despite this, following spacecraft separation on the R3 launch, the upper stage collided with the Prospero satellite,<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/> damaging one of the spacecraft's communications antennae.<ref name="Parkin">Template:Cite journal</ref> Despite this, the spacecraft was still able to complete its mission successfully.<ref name="Parkin"/> On the R3 launch, the ascent took Template:Convert from liftoff to spacecraft separation.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/>
Although none were ever built, several derivatives of Black Arrow were also proposed, typically focused upon increasing its payload capacity.<ref name="Hill 2006 189">Hill 2006, p. 189.</ref> In its standard configuration, Black Arrow was not capable of launching some contemporary satellites up to a sufficient altitude to achieve geostationary orbit.<ref name="Hill 2006 127193">Hill 2006, pp. 127, 202.</ref> Accordingly, one proposal was to add eight Raven solid rocket motors from the Skylark programme to the first stage as booster rockets.<ref name="Millard"/> Another suggestion was to mount the entire rocket atop a Blue Streak missile,<ref name="Hill 2006 1312232">Hill 2006, pp. 131-132, 232.</ref><ref name = "harvey 38">Harvey 2003, p. 38.</ref> while a third proposal involved replacing the Gamma engines with the more powerful Larch.<ref name="Millard"/>
Launches
Four Black Arrows were launched between 1969 and 1971.<ref name = "harvey 8689">Harvey 2003, pp. 86-89.</ref> The first two launches were demonstration flights, with battleship third stages and a boilerplate payload. On the maiden flight, an electrical fault caused a pair of first stage combustion chambers to pivot back and forth.<ref>Harland and Lorenz 2006, pp. 97-98.</ref> Before it cleared the launch pad, the rocket was rolling erratically, and about a minute later it began to disintegrate. After the first stage engine failed, and the rocket began to fall back to earth, it was destroyed by range safety.<ref name="Once">Template:Cite video</ref><ref name = "harvey 867">Harvey 2003, pp. 86-87.</ref> This initial failure was a considerable blow to the programme, particularly as there were insufficient financial reserves to accommodate a second unsuccessful launch. The second Black Arrow vehicle was returned to Britain for inspection and fixes ahead of the next launch.<ref name = "harvey 87">Harvey 2003, p. 87.</ref>
The second launch, performed on 4 March 1970, was entirely successful.<ref name = "harvey 87"/> On 2 September 1970, the third launch of the Black Arrow took place; it was the first all-up launch as well as Britain's first attempt to launch a satellite. This launch failed due to a leak in the second stage oxidiser pressurisation system, which caused it to cut out early. The third stage fired, but the rocket did not reach orbit, and re-entered over the Gulf of Carpentaria.<ref name="UKSpace">Template:Cite web</ref> An extensive programme review was conducted in the aftermath of the third launch, which determined that Black Arrow's design had no fundamental flaws and that only minor modifications were required.<ref name = "harvey 88"/>
The fourth launch, performed on 28 October 1971, successfully orbited the Prospero (before the R2 mission, it was named Puck) satellite, making the United Kingdom the sixth nation to place a satellite into orbit by means of an indigenously developed carrier rocket. The satellite, also known as X-3, was named Prospero after the character Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest. The name was chosen as a reference to events in the play, in which Prospero, a sorcerer, gives up his powers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Prior to the cancellation of the Black Arrow programme, the satellite was to be named after Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream.<ref name="timeshift">Template:Cite episode</ref>
All four launches were conducted from Launch Area 5B at the RAAF Woomera Range Complex in Australia, which had previously been used as a test site for the Black Knight rocket.<ref name="Hill 2006 13">Hill 2006, p. 13.</ref> During the development programme, launch sites in Barbados, Uist, and Norfolk were also considered. The launch sites at Uist and Norfolk were rejected because the former was too remote, while there was a risk that a rocket launched from the latter might drop spent stages on an oil rig in the North Sea.<ref name = "harvey 86"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
| Serial number | Launch date/time (GMT) | Payload | Outcome | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R0 | 28 June 1969, 22:58<ref name="EA">Template:Cite web</ref> | None | Template:Failure | Suborbital test of first and second stages, thrust vectoring failed<ref name="Once"/> |
| R1 | 4 March 1970, 21:15<ref name="EA"/> | None | Template:Success | Suborbital test of first and second stages |
| R2 | 2 September 1970, 00:34<ref name="EA"/> | Orba<ref name="EA"/> | Template:Failure | Second stage failed to pressurise |
| R3 | 28 October 1971, 04:09<ref name="UN-reg">Template:Cite web</ref> | Prospero<ref name="UN-reg"/> | Template:Success | Successfully reached Earth orbit |
| R4 | Not launched | Preserved at the Science Museum in London<ref name="Millard"/> | ||
Cancellation
The Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Frederick Corfield, announced the cancellation of the Black Arrow project in the House of Commons on 29 July 1971.<ref name="Hill 2006 14">Hill 2006, p. 14.</ref><ref name = "harvey 88">Harvey 2003, p. 88.</ref> Britain would instead focus its space activities on building satellites and rely on foreign launch vehicles.<ref name = "harvey 912">Harvey 2003, pp. 90-91.</ref> As the R3 rocket had already been shipped to the launch site, the second stage having arrived three days earlier, permission was given for it to be launched.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/>
The programme was cancelled on economic grounds, as the Ministry of Defence decided that it would be cheaper to use the American Scout rocket, which had a similar payload capacity, for future launches.<ref name="cancellation">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name = "harvey 90">Harvey 2003, p. 90.</ref><ref name = "Hill 2006 340">Hill 2006, p. 340.</ref> Prior to the cancellation of Black Arrow, NASA had offered to launch British payloads for free; however, this offer was withdrawn following the decision to cancel Black Arrow.<ref name="Hill 2006 gen"/>
The final Black Arrow to be completed was R4, which did not fly, and is preserved in the Science Museum, London, along with the flight spare for the Prospero satellite.<ref name="exhibit">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name = "harvey 89">Harvey 2003, p. 89.</ref> A replica of the Black Arrow rocket stands in the Rocket Park at Woomera. In addition, the remains of the first stage of Black Arrow R3 were recovered from the Anna Creek cattle station and were displayed in the William Creek Memorial Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Due to weather and vandalism related damage, the first stage was returned to the United Kingdom in an initiative led by Skyrora to preserve the artefact.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was displayed in Penicuik, Scotland, in early 2019; as of Spring 2024, the rocket is on loan to the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
The launch facilities at Woomera were demolished within a year of the final flight,<ref name="Millard"/> and half of the engineers who had worked on the programme were laid off.<ref name="Once"/> The X-4 satellite, which had been manifested for launch by Black Arrow R4, was eventually launched on 9 March 1974, by an American Scout D-1 rocket flying from Space Launch Complex 5 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
As of 2024, the United Kingdom is the only country to have successfully developed and then abandoned a satellite launch capability.<ref name="BBC News">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0" /> All other countries that have developed such a capability have retained it either through their own space programme or, in the case of France, through its involvement in the Ariane programme.<ref name="BBC News"/> However, a second British launch vehicle, the Skyrora, is currently under development.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
Template:Portal Template:Commons category
- Comparison of orbital launchers families
- Comparison of orbital launch systems
- Ariel 1
- British National Space Centre
- Diamant
- Juno I
- Lambda (rocket family)
- Satellite Launch Vehicle
- Sputnik (rocket)
- Black Knight
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
- Listen Ray Wheeler, Chief Design Engineer, discussing Black Arrow - part of a life story interview recorded for An Oral History of British Science Template:Webarchive at the British Library
- BBC Radio 4 – "The Archive Hour – Britain's Space Race". 11 August 2007.
Template:Black Arrow Template:UKColdWarProjects Template:Expendable launch systems Template:European launch systems Template:Politics of outer space