Black Arrow Satellite Launch Vehicle
Black Arrow was the United Kingdom’s three-stage small orbital launcher, designed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment and built in detail by Westland Aircraft. Four development and orbital articles flew from Woomera between 1969 and 1971; R3 successfully orbited Prospero, making Black Arrow the first and still only British-developed rocket to place a satellite into orbit.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Black Arrow rocketBritish Black Arrow
- Family Name
- Black Arrow
- Full Name
- Black Arrow Satellite Launch Vehicle
- Status
- retired
- Type
- rocket
Details
- Description
- Black Arrow was the United Kingdom’s three-stage small orbital launcher, designed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment and built in detail by Westland Aircraft. Four development and orbital articles flew from Woomera between 1969 and 1971; R3 successfully orbited Prospero, making Black Arrow the first and still only British-developed rocket to place a satellite into orbit.
- Dimensions
- Height M
- 13
- First Flight Year
- 1,969
- Last Flight Year
- 1,971
- Propulsion Configurations
- Entries
- Nested value
- Nested value
- Nested value
- Name
- Black Arrow exact three-stage configuration
- Notes
- The UK Space Agency and contemporary technical/archival sources establish Black Arrow's three major propulsion stages: Gamma 8 first stage, Gamma 2 second stage, and Waxwing solid third stage. The small Imp motors that spun the third-stage turntable are ancillary attitude hardware and are intentionally not inferred as a fourth propulsion installation.
- Rocket Specs
- Reusability
- expendable
- Stages Count
- 3
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 13, 2026 at 11:15:23 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 1, 2026 at 17:36:41 UTC
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- Search Name
- Black Arrow Satellite Launch Vehicle Black Arrow rocket British Black Arrow