The missile programme

Blue Streak

Type Medium-range ballistic missile
Diameter 3.04 metres/120 inches
Length 18.28 m/720 in
Range 3,700 kilometres/2,300 miles
Warhead 1 megaton thermonuclear device

Polaris

Type Submarine-launched ballistic missile
Diameter 2.6 m/102 in
Length 12.3 m/484 in
Range 4,000 km/2,486 miles
Warhead 1 megaton thermonuclear device

At the end of World War II, the German V2 rocket – one of its Vergeltungswaffen, 'vengeance weapons' – showed the rest of the world the future of warfare. The V2 was well known to the population of south-east Britain as over 1,000 were launched against them in the closing stages of the war. Although limited in capability because it carried only a small conventional warhead, the V2 served as a warning. It was practically impossible to shoot down by the usual means, and those in military planning were already thinking of what a nuclear weapon would be capable of if carried on such a platform.

Using the results of Nazi rocket research, the Allies started experimenting. Britain picked through the leftovers and got to work on its own rocket called Blue Streak. From the 1950s to the 1960s, Britain was to play its own part in the cutting-edge space race and, more darkly, in the quest to create a world-class ballistic missile.

Unstoppable

'Ballistic' means 'relating to or characteristic of the motion of objects moving under their own momentum and the force of gravity'. A ballistic missile doesn't actually fly. The tremendous amount of thrust produced by a rocket motor forces it into the air, and guidance systems place it on a set trajectory.

The missile can travel a relatively short distance (when it is known as a 'short-range ballistic missile', or SRBM), or it can leave the Earth's atmosphere and travel through space, only to re-enter and fall on another continent ('inter-continental ballistic missile', ICBM). Such a missile can travel at up to 20 times the speed of sound – that is, some 15,000 miles an hour – making it a virtually unstoppable delivery system for a nuclear device.

Astounding and colossal

By 1957, Britain started building its own rocket testing ground at Spadeadam in Cumbria. An American S3 rocket motor, itself a derivative of the V2's motor, was donated to the Blue Streak project, and British engine manufacturers Rolls Royce got to work testing and improving the design. The result was the highly efficient Rolls Royce RZ2 rocket motor producing an astounding 68,000 kilograms (150,000 lb) of thrust.

While Spadeadam rumbled to the sound of multiple engine tests, the De Havilland Company began producing the colossal rocket body – a lightweight tubular chassis to hold the motor, warhead and thousands of gallons of liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel.

Black Knight

At the same time on the Isle of Wight, the British were working on a rocket called Black Knight, which was smaller than the Blue Streak and relatively inexpensive (£40,000 each). It would provide the Blue Streak project with valuable data regarding space flight and re-entry characteristics.

By 1959, both rocket programmes were picking up speed and reaping the benefits as seemingly endless funds were poured into the very latest – and huge – electronic computers to aid their calculations. 1959 also witnessed the completion of a special launch site at Woomera in the Australian outback – at 127,000 square kilometres, it was about the same size as England. Now Britain had home-grown engine test sites, a test rocket, a missile in development and a place to test launch. It was still very much in the race.

Strategic launch capability

As more than 20 completely successful test launches of the Black Knight in Australia added to the scientists' knowledge of space flight and re-entry, politicians back in Britain were beginning to worry about spiralling costs. Despite having eaten up £600 million by late 1959 (the equivalent of over £1 billion today), the Blue Streak still hadn't launched.

A strategic launch capability was also becoming increasingly important. Blue Streak was designed to be launched from a protective silo: a concrete and steel underground chamber that would protect the weapon and its support crew in the event of an offensive strike. The strategic requirement was for a 400-mile-long string of silos across a large swathe of south-east England, a difficult plan to sell to the politicians.

Doubters started to question the weapon. The liquid oxygen fuel would need to be pumped into the rocket's tanks half an hour before launch, so how could it be launched within the crucial four minutes? Of course, this argument was something of a non-starter because, unlike the V-bombers, exposed on a runway, these weapons would be protected within their silos and could be launched whenever required, still guaranteeing mutually assured destruction. Despite this, however, the knives were out in government circles.

In 1960, with its sky-high budget, the Blue Streak project was cancelled. After some 10 years of development and millions of pounds spent on the nuclear race, Britain had effectively lost its place in the premier league. Although still a player, its dreams of being seriously considered an independent superpower were dashed.

The space race

Britain continued to want a nuclear deterrent, which took the form of off-the-shelf American Polaris missiles and bomber-launched Skybolt rockets. However, a new area opened up that gave the mothballed Blue Streak project one last chance at glory: the space race.

During the 1960s, a goal such as a moon landing was far beyond the resources of Britain, but the exciting possibilities that had arisen from being so advanced in satellite launching technology were enough to bring Blue Streak back to life. Britain also wanted to join the European Economic Community (EEC) and set about cosying up to its European neighbours. One result of this was Britain being recognised as one of the major members of ELDO: the European Launcher Development Organisation, part of Europe's own space programme.

Blue Streak was to be the first stage of the new Europa rocket, in partnership with France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium. It finally launched for the first time from a test pad at Woomera.

Black Arrow

The Europa project, plagued by arguments and poor communication, was a headache for everyone involved. In 1969, with no satellite having been launched from the platform in Australia, and under mounting pressure from HM Treasury – and, it has to be said, with little foresight – Britain pulled out. France picked up the pieces and eventually launched the successful Ariane satellite delivery rocket, becoming the major player of the European Space Agency.

On 28 October 1971, Britain finally successfully launched a satellite – the Prospero – with a Black Knight rocket derivative called Black Arrow, the brainchild of the Royal Aircraft Establishment. However, the cancellation of the Black Arrow project had already been announced in the House of Commons three months earlier. Thus, Britain simultaneously joined the small club of those who had sent satellites into orbit (the Soviet Union, US, France, Japan and China) and resigned from it – the only nation ever to do this.

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