Hacker News Reader

Comment by bagels | Hacker News Reader

This is kind of surprising. I knew that UK had built and launched rockets to orbit early on, but apparently only in Australia. I'd expected that some of the early testing might've been done there.

View on HN

The UK put a satellite up into space, and the Treasury shut the program down the very same day. Satellite is still up there, trying to communicate.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1214197384382754816.html (or https://nitter.net/garius/status/1214197384382754816)

This is an airborne launch, meaning the spaceport will have only the takeoff of the host airplane. The launch itself will be above the sea.

The rocket was developed and built in the US and projected to be launched from multiple countries around the world.

So nothing UK specific in it.

The UK cancelled its Black Arrow rocket programme at exactly the worst possible time: after all the money had been spent, but before any benefits were realised. The rocket that was launched only happened because those responsible decided to ignore the cancellation and do the launch anyway.

Common problem in UK big project funding.

> rocket that was launched only happened because those responsible decided to ignore the cancellation and do the launch anyway.

From what I remember they convinced treasury that launching rocket and satellite is the cheapest form of disposing it

Which is clearly rubbish - plenty of people would have bought a rocket for a dollar...

And besides, the fuel could be resold, and all the metals would have had scrap value.

The geography of the UK isn't really suitable for space launches. You want to launch eastwards to benefit from the rotation of the Earth, and (unless you're China) you don't want to launch over land in case your rocket fails. Launch sites further south might also be preferable as they have better access to low inclination orbits (though for polar orbits you'd prefer northern launch sites). There's no good location in the UK that satisfies all these. Btw, the US does most of its launches from Floria for much the same reasons.

> “The geography of the UK isn't really suitable for space launches.”

Scotland is actually a pretty good location for polar and sun-synchronous (SSO) orbits. You can do coastal launches over the sea, while still being relatively close to populated regions with good transport link and infrastructure.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48119118.amp

Mediocre transport links and infrastructure at best.

The route to the Highlands site is an A-road in name only - it's one way for most of the route. The nearest train station is about 15 miles away.

The route to the Shetlands site is a prop plane or a ferry and then a decent drive on fairly minor roads including another ferry.

The only way by road into the Moine Peninsula would be along the A836 up through the centre of Sutherland. You'd probably need to upgrade the entire length of road to be able to accommodate heavy loads and take out any tight turns. Possibly more practical would be to build a port in Loch Eriboll and ship absolutely everything in. The expense, in either case, would be eye-watering. In short that BBC article is one long on imagination and short on everything else.

Lots of stuff in sso and other high inclination, at least uk latitude is ok for those, I'd imagine.

The early testing for those launches was done on the Isle of Wight, but AFAIK nothing went to orbit from that site.

Yes, at the bottom of Tennyson Down before the Needles! A concrete rocket motor hard stand built into the side of the slope. Slept out on it for a lunar eclipse one summer night.

It's a good choice of location, because you have a decent chunk of Isle of Wight in between the noise of the rocket (and any consequences of rapid unscheduled disassemblies) and populated land.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com