Great Britain to Return to Spaceflight after 50 Years

Launch of Black Arrow

Today, the globe mourns the loss of Queen Elizabeth II. She was already Queen of England when, 50 Years ago, the United Kingdom launched a satellite from Australia on a Black Arrow rocket. Though this was their first successful orbital flight, it would be their last...until now. Multiple British companies are developing rockets, particularly Orbex with their Prime-1 rocket and Skyrora with their Skyrora XL rocket. They both want to launch the first orbital flight from UK soil within a year. In addition, two American companies plan to launch from the UK in the coming years, ABL with their RS1 rocket and Virgin Galactic with their air-launched LauncherOne. These rockets will launch from two spaceports in Scotland.

This article is dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8, 2022.