Black Arrow

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Orbital launch vehicle. Country: UK. Status: Retired 1971.

Britain's only indigenous launch vehicle. Following cancellation of the project in July 1971, one final launch was permitted, which successfully placed the Prospero satellite in orbit.

Used unique propellant combination and large number of simple motors. Black Arrow was a three stage vehicle. The first stage had an 8 chamber layout with 4 pairs of Gamma engines gimballed as with Black Knight giving thrust in all axes. The second stage had two Gamma chambers with extended nozzles to give full expansion in vacuum. Both engines were gimballed to provide thrust in three axes. The third stage for Black Arrow was a Waxwing solid rocket motor manufactured by RPE Westcott.

Manufacturer: RAE. Launches: 4. Failures: 2. Success Rate: 50.00%. First Launch Date: 1969-06-27. Last Launch Date: 1971-10-28. Launch data is: complete. LEO Payload: 73 kg (160 lb). to: 200 km Orbit. Apogee: 550 km (340 mi). Associated Spacecraft: Prospero. Liftoff Thrust: 222.400 kN (49,998 lbf). Total Mass: 18,130 kg (39,960 lb). Core Diameter: 1.98 m (6.49 ft). Total Length: 13.00 m (42.00 ft). Flyaway Unit Cost $: 8.000 million. in: 1985 unit dollars.

Stage1: 1 x Black Arrow-1. Gross Mass: 14,104 kg (31,093 lb). Empty Mass: 1,070 kg (2,350 lb). Motor: 1 x Gamma 8. Thrust (vac): 234.820 kN (52,790 lbf). Isp: 265 sec. Burn time: 142 sec. Length: 6.86 m (22.50 ft). Diameter: 1.98 m (6.49 ft). Propellants: H2O2/Kerosene.

Stage2: 1 x Black Arrow-2. Gross Mass: 3,537 kg (7,797 lb). Empty Mass: 535 kg (1,179 lb). Motor: 1 x Gamma 2. Thrust (vac): 68.234 kN (15,340 lbf). Isp: 265 sec. Burn time: 113 sec. Length: 2.90 m (9.50 ft). Diameter: 1.37 m (4.49 ft). Propellants: H2O2/Kerosene.

Stage3: 1 x Black Arrow-3. Gross Mass: 397 kg (875 lb). Empty Mass: 87 kg (191 lb). Motor: 1 x Black Arrow-3. Thrust (vac): 29.400 kN (6,609 lbf). Isp: 278 sec. Burn time: 28 sec. Length: 1.22 m (4.00 ft). Diameter: 0.69 m (2.26 ft). Propellants: Solid.

Black Arrow Chronology

1969 June 27 - 22:58 GMT - Woomera LA5B. Black Arrow-BA0 R-0 FAILURE: Control lost after 50 sec. Destroyed by range safety. Agency: RAE. Apogee: 4.00 km (2.40 mi). Suborbital research and development flight

1970 March 3 - 21:15 GMT - Woomera LA5B. Black Arrow-BA0 R-1 Agency: RAE. Apogee: 550 km (340 mi). Successful suborbital research and development flight

1970 September 2 - 00:34 GMT - Woomera LA5B. Black Arrow R-2 FAILURE: Second stage shut down 13 seconds early. Orba Spacecraft: Prospero. Agency: RAE. Apogee: 550 km (340 mi). Unsuccessful attempt to orbit a satellite.

1971 October 28 - 04:09 GMT - Woomera LA5B. Black Arrow R-3 Prospero Mass: 66 kg (145 lb). Spacecraft: Prospero. Agency: RAE. Perigee: 531 km (329 mi). Apogee: 1,403 km (871 mi). Inclination: 82.00 deg. Period: 104.40 min. To test in space equipment for future satellites and to conduct a scientific experiment to measure the incidence of micro-meteoroids. Launch time 0409 GMT, injection point 13.7 deg S, 137.9 deg E. Anticipated life 100 years.

Bibliography:

McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
Emme, Eugene M, Aeronautics and Astronautics: An American Chronology of Science and Technology in the Exploration of Space 1915-1960, NASA, 1961. Web Address when accessed: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/timeline.html.
Bramscher, Robert G, Spaceflight, "A Survey of Launch Vehicle Failures", 1980, Volume 22, page 351.
Newell, Homer E, editor, Sounding Rockets, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1959.

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Black Arrow 1970