Surprise Me!

Britain will lead the new space race – and this is how we do it, says KATIE MILLER

2020-08-24 1 Dailymotion

EARLIER this year marked the 50-year anniversary of the UK's Black Arrow space rocket taking to the sky. Black Arrow was the first and only rocket ever built in Britain to successfully carry a satellite into space.<br />But even before it launched the space programme was thrown into the bin, making Britain the only country on Earth to have developed a working rocket and then abandon it. At Skyrora, we want to bring back that amazing achievement and become the first UK-based company to fire a rocket, similar in its core propulsion system to the innovative Black Arrow, into space from Scotland. The first orbital launch of the Skyrora XL is scheduled for 2023. That may seem far away, but time is an essential factor because there can only be one winner in the European space race.<br />It is also our ambition to become the British SpaceX for inspiring the nation and getting them excited about space launches again.<br /><br />That is why we are determined to test our engines and flight systems as quickly and efficiently as possible. The latest launch in Iceland last weekend, and three earlier rocket launces from Scotland, is testimony to our successful de-risking programme.<br /><br />From our mobile launch complex set up at Langanes Peninsula, Iceland, we successfully launched our two-stage, four-metre tall sub-orbital rocket, the Skylark Micro.<br /><br />The rocket climbed to 26.86km in altitude before both stages were parachuted back down to sea. Before launch, the team undertook a number of weather procedures to learn more about the mid and upper level wind speeds and altitudes. In addition, the mobile launch complex allowed the team to collect a large amount of data of telemetry, GPS tracking and weather conditions during flight to which they are currently analysing.<br /><br />The test also allowed the Skyrora crew to practice launch procedures and marine recovery operations before scaling it up to the larger Skylark-L and Skyrora XL launch vehicles.<br /><br />Until this year, Iceland had no permit procedure to allow rockets to be launched from the country. However, after Skyrora travelled to Iceland in January to meet the relevant government officials and see the launch site, the Icelandic authorities agreed upon and implemented a framework to allow Skyrora to launch its Skylark Micro.<br /><br />Another demonstration of our determination to reach our goal was in May this year, when Skyrora made the UK ready for launching rockets into space after a team built a mobile launch complex in Scotland and completed a full static fire test with the Skylark-L rocket on it – in only five days.<br /><br />This was the first time a ground rocket test with a launch vehicle of this magnitude has been performed in the UK in half a century.<br /><br />Of course, Skyrora isn’t the only company aiming to get a piece of the launch pie. Large rockets from companies like SpaceX, Rocket Lab or Arianespace, the EU’s launcher-system, are already in operation. However, they are more like buses where the ticket price is cheaper but you have to get to their

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