VIDEO Isle of Wight Black Arrow 50 years after satellite launch

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Rockets were tested on the Isle of Wight from the 1950s, before a successful launch on October 28, 1971.

Today (Thursday), some of those who worked on the original project have been at Sandown Airport, where the Wight Aviation Museum is based.

Marlene Irving was one of the few women involved in the original testing programme and has been among those taking part in today's celebrations.

The museum's 46ft full size rocket replica was officially unveiled, along with the airport's new Rocket Garden.

The copy of the Black Arrow rocket was made by East Cowes boatbuilding firm AMC Marine.

Its fibreglass nose cone, which held the Prospero satellite, was created by Island-based Vestas Technology UK.

The man behind the replica, Ryde's Richard Curtis, told the County Press in 2018: "So many people don’t know about the history of rockets on the Isle of Wight.

"It’ll be good to bring that to life.

"When you see a full-size rocket, you really get a sense of the scale of the achievement."

The real three was a three-stage, 13-metre-tall rocket that measured 2-metres wide and weighed 18 tonnes.

It was powered by hydrogen peroxide and kerosene.

Today's historic anniversary is also being marked by the National Trust’s Needles New Battery.

Rockets were tested at Highdown and the New Battery before the space race was even made official in Britain, with the project moving to a remote part of south Australia for the 1971 launch.

A number of Islanders accompanied Black Arrow to the Woomera launch site.

The Isle of Wight's first rocket was Black Knight and it was tested in April 1957, at Highdown.

It was designed to model the impact of re-entry to the earth’s atmosphere and in all, 22 Black Knight rockets were launched.

Its successor, the Black Arrow rocket, was designed to put a satellite into orbit and was developed from the late 1960s.

Today (until 4pm), the Needles New Battery is hosting craft activities for children, including satellite model making using recycled materials.

Jo-Anne King, Welcome Manager at The Needles Old and New Battery, said: "The history of the testing of the space rockets at the Needles is fascinating.

"It’s amazing that at the time the Isle of Wight was at the forefront of space technology, and that the Prospero satellite is still circulating the earth 50 years on.

"Prospero is special as it was the first and so far, the only British satellite to launch on a British-built rocket."

Richard Curtis, project creator.

The real Black Arrow rocket was engineered at sites in Warwickshire, Somerset and Essex, before parts were brought to the Isle of Wight to be assembled.

Five were made and they were tested in 1969 and 1970.

In September 1970, a failed launch saw the loss of a rocket and its cargo but, just over a year later, the project was a success.

Despite that, the space programme was cancelled even as the launch took place.

The fifth, unused Black Arrow is now on display at the Science Museum in London.

Fifty years on, Edinburgh-based rocket company Skyrora, inspired by the Black Arrow technology and with bases across Europe, is planning to launch satellites from the UK.

Construction has started in Cornwall, to prepare for launches next summer and more spaceports are planned for Wales and Scotland.

The first stages of the Black Arrow rockets that were launched in September 1970 and October 1971 were recovered from the launch site in Woomera and were brought back to the UK by Skyrora in 2020.

They are currently at the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) Museum, before moving to Scotland in three years' time.

The space programme was cancelled in 1971 - days before Black Arrow launched - and R3's unused successor, R4, can be found in the Science Museum in London.

• Black Arrow replica rocket taking shape