Here Doug Millard, deputy keeper of Technologies and Engineering at the Science Museum, London, explains more about the Isle of Wight’s role in this moment of UK space history.

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He wrote: “On October 28, 1971, a British Black Arrow rocket launched the Prospero satellite into an orbit of the Earth. The satellite is still up there and should remain so for many more decades.

Black Arrow R4 rocket and X3 flight spare. Photo: Science Museum.

“Part of the rocket fell back to Earth and in 2018 was brought back to Britain. But if you want to see an intact rocket up close, then the Prospero rocket’s successor — which was never launched — is on display in the Science Museum’s Exploring Space Gallery.”

The Science Museum acquired the rocket back in 1972 and for many years it was displayed on the gallery floor.

In 2000, it was suspended from the gallery ceiling with the stages separated to demonstrate how a rocket works better.

The museum curators worked with the team which made the rocket all those years ago.

The rocket was initially developed by Saunders-Roe, and later Westlands as the result of a merger.

Both companies were based on the Isle of Wight, where the rockets were test-fired on Highdown in West Wight and at The Needles New Battery.

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Doug continued: “The team leader described one of his concerns at the time over the testing. At the base of the rocket’s first stage and in the middle of the engine nozzles is a ball.

“This ball was gripped by a hydraulic clamp, preventing the rocket from taking off while the engine reached maximum thrust.

“If that clamp had failed, the rocket would have taken off from the Island by mistake!”

The actual rocket launching took place in Woomera, Australia.The rocket stage that was later returned to Britain was retrieved from the Australian desert, where it had lain for almost half a century.

Going along the length of the un-launched rocket in the Science Museum’s gallery, it is possible to see some of its mechanisms. In the base of the open fairings, there’s a ring surrounded by six little rocket thrusters called Imps.

The rocket’s third stage motor— named Waxwing — and the satellite sat on this ring. When the Imps fired, the entire third stage, with satellite, was spun at three revolutions per second. This would help stabilise the satellite when it was finally released into orbit.

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After launch, the ground stations in Australia would have received signals from the rocket and its satellite payload throughout the climb into space.

When stations in Alaska started to receive signals 40 minutes after launch, the Black Arrow teams knew their satellite was safely in orbit. Until that moment, the satellite was referred to as X3. Once in orbit, it was renamed Prospero after the magician in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Prospero was an experimental satellite, testing materials and systems which could be used in the manufacture of communications satellites.

Doug said unfortunately no more Black Arrows flew, and the next in the series of experimental satellites— Miranda — was launched by a NASA Scout rocket.

But Prospero’s legacy lives on. The knowledge gained by British industry from the Prospero mission and others which followed helped develop what is today a multi-billion pound satellite industry in Britain.

Doug concluded: “The future now looks rosy for a new rocket industry in Britain. After decades without any major involvement in rockets, Britain is poised to start launching rockets from its own territory — something that has never been done before.”

CLICK HERE to read Doug’s blog on the Science Museum's website.

Did you work on the Black Arrow project? If so, we would love to hear from you! Simply click on the submissions box below to send us details and pictures.