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89-600: Black Arrow , officially capitalised BLACK ARROW , was a British satellite expendable launch system . Black Arrow originated from studies by the Royal Aircraft Establishment for carrier rockets based on the earlier Black Knight rocket; the project was authorised by the British government in late 1964. Development of Black Arrow was largely performed by the prime contractor, the British aerospace company Saunders-Roe , and later undertaken by Westland Aircraft as
178-583: A Diamant A rocket launched from the CIEES site at Hammaguir , Algeria . With Astérix, France became the sixth country to have an artificial satellite. Early satellites were built to unique designs. With advancements in technology, multiple satellites began to be built on single model platforms called satellite buses . The first standardized satellite bus design was the HS-333 geosynchronous (GEO) communication satellite launched in 1972. Beginning in 1997, FreeFlyer
267-783: A Lissajous orbit ). Earth observation satellites gather information for reconnaissance , mapping , monitoring the weather , ocean, forest, etc. Space telescopes take advantage of outer space's near perfect vacuum to observe objects with the entire electromagnetic spectrum . Because satellites can see a large portion of the Earth at once, communications satellites can relay information to remote places. The signal delay from satellites and their orbit's predictability are used in satellite navigation systems, such as GPS. Space probes are satellites designed for robotic space exploration outside of Earth, and space stations are in essence crewed satellites. The first artificial satellite launched into
356-414: A catalyst . The most commonly used propellant mixtures on satellites are hydrazine -based monopropellants or monomethylhydrazine – dinitrogen tetroxide bipropellants. Ion thrusters on satellites usually are Hall-effect thrusters , which generate thrust by accelerating positive ions through a negatively-charged grid. Ion propulsion is more efficient propellant-wise than chemical propulsion but its thrust
445-423: A coast phase after second stage cut-off, the rocket was controlled by a reaction control system . The third stage did not have an attitude control system, and was instead spin-stabilised . The guidance system used was derived from that of the cancelled BAC TSR-2 bomber . The first stage was powered by a single Gamma 8 engine, which burned for 127 seconds. The Gamma 8 was an eight-chamber engine, derived from
534-543: A general election in October, the incoming Labour government put the project on hold to reduce expenditure. Following another election , the British government approved the continuation of the programme with several modifications, including the reduction of the test programme from five to three launches. The maiden launch was set for 1968. Initial development was conducted by the British aerospace manufacturer Saunders-Roe , which merged into Westland Aircraft in 1964. Westland
623-456: A standardized bus to save cost and work, the most popular of which are small CubeSats . Similar satellites can work together as groups, forming constellations . Because of the high launch cost to space, most satellites are designed to be as lightweight and robust as possible. Most communication satellites are radio relay stations in orbit and carry dozens of transponders, each with a bandwidth of tens of megahertz. Satellites are placed from
712-409: A transponder ; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth . Communications satellites are used for television , telephone , radio , internet , and military applications. Many communications satellites are in geostationary orbit 22,236 miles (35,785 km) above the equator , so that the satellite appears stationary at
801-576: A Satellite Vehicle", by R. R. Carhart. This expanded on potential scientific uses for satellite vehicles and was followed in June 1955 with "The Scientific Use of an Artificial Satellite", by H. K. Kallmann and W. W. Kellogg. The first artificial satellite was Sputnik 1 , launched by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 under the Sputnik program , with Sergei Korolev as chief designer. Sputnik 1 helped to identify
890-448: A U.S. Scout rocket from Wallops Island (Virginia, United States) with an Italian launch team trained by NASA . In similar occasions, almost all further first national satellites were launched by foreign rockets. France was the third country to launch a satellite on its own rocket. On 26 November 1965, the Astérix or A-1 (initially conceptualized as FR.2 or FR-2), was put into orbit by
979-519: A colour and a noun, unofficially known as Rainbow Codes , to research programmes conducted by the Armed Forces . Despite this naming convention, the programme was officially a civilian venture. It was unofficially nicknamed the "Lipstick Rocket", as the fairing, which was painted bright red for visibility, made the rocket resemble a tube of lipstick . Black Arrow was a relatively compact launch vehicle, being particularly slender as well as possibly being
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#17328517565781068-418: A satellite's lifetime. Resource use is difficult to monitor and quantify for satellites and launch vehicles due to their commercially sensitive nature. However, aluminium is a preferred metal in satellite construction due to its lightweight and relative cheapness and typically constitutes around 40% of a satellite's mass. Through mining and refining, aluminium has numerous negative environmental impacts and
1157-593: A test site for the Black Knight rocket . During the development programme, launch sites in Barbados , Uist , and Norfolk were also considered. The launch sites at Uist and Norfolk were rejected because the former was too remote, while there was a risk that a rocket launched from the latter might drop spent stages on an oil rig in the North Sea . The Minister of State for Trade and Industry , Frederick Corfield , announced
1246-449: A thin cable called a tether . Recovery satellites are satellites that provide a recovery of reconnaissance, biological, space-production and other payloads from orbit to Earth. Biosatellites are satellites designed to carry living organisms, generally for scientific experimentation. Space-based solar power satellites are proposed satellites that would collect energy from sunlight and transmit it for use on Earth or other places. Since
1335-588: A thought experiment by Isaac Newton to explain the motion of natural satellites , in his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687). The first fictional depiction of a satellite being launched into orbit was a short story by Edward Everett Hale , " The Brick Moon " (1869). The idea surfaced again in Jules Verne 's The Begum's Fortune (1879). In 1903, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935) published Exploring Space Using Jet Propulsion Devices , which
1424-409: A three-stage rocket, fuelled by RP-1 paraffin (kerosene) and high-test peroxide , a concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide (85% hydrogen peroxide + 15% water). While the first two stages featured thrust vectoring to provide attitude control, the third stage did not have an attitude control system, and instead relied upon spin stabilization along with a reaction control system . The first stage
1513-400: Is a commercial off-the-shelf software application for satellite mission analysis, design, and operations. After the late 2010s, and especially after the advent and operational fielding of large satellite internet constellations —where on-orbit active satellites more than doubled over a period of five years—the companies building the constellations began to propose regular planned deorbiting of
1602-610: Is currently unclear. The visibility of man-made objects in the night sky may also impact people's linkages with the world, nature, and culture. At all points of a satellite's lifetime, its movement and processes are monitored on the ground through a network of facilities. The environmental cost of the infrastructure as well as day-to-day operations is likely to be quite high, but quantification requires further investigation. Particular threats arise from uncontrolled de-orbit. Some notable satellite failures that polluted and dispersed radioactive materials are Kosmos 954 , Kosmos 1402 and
1691-399: Is dependent on rocket design and fuel type. The amount of green house gases emitted by rockets is considered trivial as it contributes significantly less, around 0.01%, than the aviation industry yearly which itself accounts for 2-3% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. Rocket emissions in the stratosphere and their effects are only beginning to be studied and it is likely that
1780-473: Is deployed for military or intelligence purposes, it is known as a spy satellite or reconnaissance satellite. Their uses include early missile warning, nuclear explosion detection, electronic reconnaissance, and optical or radar imaging surveillance. Navigational satellites are satellites that use radio time signals transmitted to enable mobile receivers on the ground to determine their exact location. The relatively clear line of sight between
1869-517: Is most used in archaeology , cartography , environmental monitoring , meteorology , and reconnaissance applications. As of 2021, there are over 950 Earth observation satellites, with the largest number of satellites operated with Planet Labs . Weather satellites monitor clouds , city lights , fires , effects of pollution , auroras , sand and dust storms , snow cover, ice mapping, boundaries of ocean currents , energy flows, etc. Environmental monitoring satellites can detect changes in
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#17328517565781958-511: Is now owned by the National Trust , although it is bordered by The Needles - Landmark Attraction at Alum Bay , which is owned by an independent company. The Rocket Testing site is free to enter, although the Old Battery requires a modest fee. 50°40′10″N 1°32′22″W / 50.6694°N 1.5394°W / 50.6694; -1.5394 This Isle of Wight location article
2047-581: Is one of the most carbon-intensive metals. Satellite manufacturing also requires rare elements such as lithium , gold , and gallium , some of which have significant environmental consequences linked to their mining and processing and/or are in limited supply. Launch vehicles require larger amounts of raw materials to manufacture and the booster stages are usually dropped into the ocean after fuel exhaustion. They are not normally recovered. Two empty boosters used for Ariane 5 , which were composed mainly of steel, weighed around 38 tons each, to give an idea of
2136-430: Is the chemical propellant used which then releases ammonia , hydrogen and nitrogen as gas into the upper atmosphere. Also, the environment of the outer atmosphere causes the degradation of exterior materials. The atomic oxygen in the upper atmosphere oxidises hydrocarbon-based polymers like Kapton , Teflon and Mylar that are used to insulate and protect the satellite which then emits gasses like CO 2 and CO into
2225-425: Is very small (around 0.5 N or 0.1 lb f ), and thus requires a longer burn time. The thrusters usually use xenon because it is inert , can be easily ionized , has a high atomic mass and storable as a high-pressure liquid. Most satellites use solar panels to generate power, and a few in deep space with limited sunlight use radioisotope thermoelectric generators . Slip rings attach solar panels to
2314-858: The American Rocket Society , the National Science Foundation , and the International Geophysical Year, the Army and Navy worked on Project Orbiter with two competing programs. The army used the Jupiter C rocket , while the civilian–Navy program used the Vanguard rocket to launch a satellite. Explorer 1 became the United States' first artificial satellite, on 31 January 1958. The information sent back from its radiation detector led to
2403-571: The Chinese military shot down an aging weather satellite, followed by the US Navy shooting down a defunct spy satellite in February 2008. On 18 November 2015, after two failed attempts, Russia successfully carried out a flight test of an anti-satellite missile known as Nudol . On 27 March 2019, India shot down a live test satellite at 300 km altitude in 3 minutes, becoming the fourth country to have
2492-607: The Netherlands , Norway , Pakistan , Poland , Russia , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , Spain , Switzerland , Thailand , Turkey , Ukraine , the United Kingdom and the United States , had some satellites in orbit. Japan's space agency (JAXA) and NASA plan to send a wooden satellite prototype called LingoSat into orbit in the summer of 2024. They have been working on this project for few years and sent first wood samples to
2581-531: The Science Museum, London , along with the flight spare for the Prospero satellite. Black Arrow originated from a Royal Aircraft Establishment proposal for a rocket capable of placing a 317-pound (144 kg) payload into low Earth orbit , in order to test systems designed for larger spacecraft. In the autumn of 1964, the programme was authorised by Conservative Aviation Minister Julian Amery . Then, following
2670-465: The Transit 5-BN-3 . When in a controlled manner satellites reach the end of life they are intentionally deorbited or moved to a graveyard orbit further away from Earth in order to reduce space debris . Physical collection or removal is not economical or even currently possible. Moving satellites out to a graveyard orbit is also unsustainable because they remain there for hundreds of years. It will lead to
2759-564: The White House announced on 29 July 1955 that the U.S. intended to launch satellites by the spring of 1958. This became known as Project Vanguard . On 31 July, the Soviet Union announced its intention to launch a satellite by the fall of 1957. Sputnik 2 was launched on 3 November 1957 and carried the first living passenger into orbit, a dog named Laika . The dog was sent without possibility of return. In early 1955, after being pressured by
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2848-407: The payload fairing separated. About 257 seconds into the flight, the second stage cut off, and the rocket entered a coast phase to apogee . Immediately after cut-off, the second stage attitude control system was pressurised. During the coast the correct orientation for third stage separation was maintained by means of the attitude control system. Towards the end of the coast period, the third stage
2937-724: The Chief Missile Scientist Roy Dommett , the Chief Design Engineer Ray Wheeler , and the Deputy Chief Engineer John Underwood. Despite this effort, the programme encountered more difficulties and greater costs than had originally been anticipated. This outcome was in no small part due to the austere budget of £3 million per year. The name Black Arrow came from the Ministry of Supply policy of assigning designations consisting of
3026-457: The Earth's vegetation , atmospheric trace gas content, sea state, ocean color, and ice fields. By monitoring vegetation changes over time, droughts can be monitored by comparing the current vegetation state to its long term average. Anthropogenic emissions can be monitored by evaluating data of tropospheric NO 2 and SO 2 . A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via
3115-417: The Earth's orbit was the Soviet Union 's Sputnik 1 , on October 4, 1957. As of December 31, 2022, there are 6,718 operational satellites in the Earth's orbit, of which 4,529 belong to the United States (3,996 commercial), 590 belong to China, 174 belong to Russia, and 1,425 belong to other nations. The first published mathematical study of the possibility of an artificial satellite was Newton's cannonball ,
3204-500: The Earth, called remote sensing . Most Earth observation satellites are placed in low Earth orbit for a high data resolution, though some are placed in a geostationary orbit for an uninterrupted coverage. Some satellites are placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit to have consistent lighting and obtain a total view of the Earth. Depending on the satellites' functions, they might have a normal camera , radar , lidar , photometer , or atmospheric instruments. Earth observation satellite's data
3293-703: The Gamma 301 engine used on the Black Knight. It was 6.9 metres (23 ft) long, and had a diameter of 2 metres (6 ft 7 in), the same diameter as the French Coralie . Coralie was used as the second stage of the Europa rocket. Black Arrow had the same diameter as Coralie to make it compatible with Blue Streak , which was used as the first stage of Europa. This would have allowed Black Arrow's payload capacity to have been increased, and would also have allowed Britain to use
3382-663: The Isle of Wight, where they were integrated into the rocket and the first stage engines were fired again at High Down . Bristol Aerojet produced the third stage in Somerset , while the Explosives Research and Development Establishment produced its solid propellant in Waltham Abbey , Essex . The Rocket Propulsion Establishment , based in Westcott, Buckinghamshire , was responsible for
3471-522: The Ministry of Defence decided that it would be cheaper to use the American Scout rocket, which had a similar payload capacity, for future launches. Prior to the cancellation of Black Arrow, NASA had offered to launch British payloads for free; however, this offer was withdrawn following the decision to cancel Black Arrow. The final Black Arrow to be completed was R4, which did not fly, and is preserved in
3560-546: The Moon and the Sun. Satellites utilize ultra-white reflective coatings to prevent damage from UV radiation. Without orbit and orientation control, satellites in orbit will not be able to communicate with ground stations on the Earth. Chemical thrusters on satellites usually use monopropellant (one-part) or bipropellant (two-parts) that are hypergolic . Hypergolic means able to combust spontaneously when in contact with each other or to
3649-744: The Science Museum, London, along with the flight spare for the Prospero satellite. A replica of the Black Arrow rocket stands in the Rocket Park at Woomera. In addition, the remains of the first stage of Black Arrow R3 were recovered from the Anna Creek cattle station and were displayed in the William Creek Memorial Park. Due to weather and vandalism related damage, the first stage was returned to
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3738-652: The United Kingdom in an initiative led by Skyrora to preserve the artefact. It was displayed in Penicuik , Scotland, in early 2019; as of 2021, the rocket is on loan to the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum through 2024. The launch facilities at Woomera were demolished within a year of the final flight, and half of the engineers who had worked on the programme were laid off. The X-4 satellite , which had been manifested for launch by Black Arrow R4,
3827-455: The atmosphere. Given the current surge in satellites in the sky, soon hundreds of satellites may be clearly visible to the human eye at dark sites. It is estimated that the overall levels of diffuse brightness of the night skies has increased by up to 10% above natural levels. This has the potential to confuse organisms, like insects and night-migrating birds, that use celestial patterns for migration and orientation. The impact this might have
3916-603: The atmosphere. For example, SpaceX Starlink satellites, the first large satellite internet constellation to exceed 1000 active satellites on orbit in 2020, are designed to be 100% demisable and burn up completely on their atmospheric reentry at the end of their life, or in the event of an early satellite failure. In different periods, many countries, such as Algeria , Argentina , Australia , Austria , Brazil , Canada , Chile , China , Denmark , Egypt , Finland , France , Germany , India , Iran , Israel , Italy , Japan , Kazakhstan , South Korea , Malaysia , Mexico ,
4005-499: The cancellation of the Black Arrow project in the House of Commons on 29 July 1971. Britain would instead focus its space activities on building satellites and rely on foreign launch vehicles. As the R3 rocket had already been shipped to the launch site, the second stage having arrived three days earlier, permission was given for it to be launched. The programme was cancelled on economic grounds, as
4094-447: The capability to destroy live satellites. The environmental impact of satellites is not currently well understood as they were previously assumed to be benign due to the rarity of satellite launches. However, the exponential increase and projected growth of satellite launches are bringing the issue into consideration. The main issues are resource use and the release of pollutants into the atmosphere which can happen at different stages of
4183-585: The case of France, through its involvement in the Ariane programme. Satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft , placed into orbit around a celestial body . They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting , navigation ( GPS ), broadcasting , scientific research, and Earth observation. Additional military uses are reconnaissance, early warning , signals intelligence and, potentially, weapon delivery. Other satellites include
4272-534: The density of high atmospheric layers through measurement of its orbital change and provided data on radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere . The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1's success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the so-called Space Race within the Cold War . In the context of activities planned for the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958),
4361-512: The design and integration of the stage. The majority of the technology and systems used on Black Arrow had already been developed or flight-proven on the Black Knight rocket, or the Blue Steel missile . Black Arrow was designed to reuse as much technology from the earlier programmes as possible in order to reduce costs, and simplify the development process. Many senior staff of the Black Knight programme transferred directly to Black Arrow, including
4450-530: The discovery of the Earth's Van Allen radiation belts . The TIROS-1 spacecraft, launched on April 1, 1960, as part of NASA's Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) program, sent back the first television footage of weather patterns to be taken from space. In June 1961, three and a half years after the launch of Sputnik 1, the United States Space Surveillance Network cataloged 115 Earth-orbiting satellites. While Canada
4539-484: The earth's climate. After deorbiting 70% of satellites end up in the ocean and are rarely recovered. Using wood as an alternative material has been posited in order to reduce pollution and debris from satellites that reenter the atmosphere. Space debris pose dangers to the spacecraft (including satellites) in or crossing geocentric orbits and have the potential to drive a Kessler syndrome which could potentially curtail humanity from conducting space endeavors in
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#17328517565784628-419: The final rocket stages that place satellites in orbit and formerly useful satellites that later become defunct. Except for passive satellites , most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). Most satellites also have a method of communication to ground stations , called transponders . Many satellites use
4717-431: The first stage engine failed, and the rocket began to fall back to earth, it was destroyed by range safety . This initial failure was a considerable blow to the programme, particularly as there were insufficient financial reserves to accommodate a second unsuccessful launch. The second Black Arrow vehicle was returned to Britain for inspection and fixes ahead of the next launch. The second launch, performed on 4 March 1970,
4806-412: The first stage had cut off. The interstage separated from the second stage six seconds later. The second stage, which was 2.9 metres (9 ft 6 in) long and measured 1.37 metres (4 ft 6 in) in diameter, was powered by a two-chamber Gamma 2 engine which ignited shortly after the separation motors, and continued to burn for 123 seconds. Three minutes after launch, during the second stage burn,
4895-498: The first stage of Black Arrow as a backup to the Coralie. For this reason, all dimensions in the original specification were given in imperial units except the first stage diameter, which was given in metric units . The first and second stages were connected by an interstage structure containing four Siskin IB separation and ullage motors , which separated and ignited seven seconds after
4984-414: The first two stages. The eight first stage combustion chambers were arranged in pairs which could gimbal either way along one axis. Two of the pairs were arranged perpendicular to the other two, and when all four pairs were used together, they provided roll, pitch, and yaw control. The second stage had two combustion chambers, which could gimbal along two axes, providing the same level of control. During
5073-444: The further pollution of space and future issues with space debris. When satellites deorbit much of it is destroyed during re-entry into the atmosphere due to the heat. This introduces more material and pollutants into the atmosphere. There have been concerns expressed about the potential damage to the ozone layer and the possibility of increasing the earth's albedo , reducing warming but also resulting in accidental geoengineering of
5162-670: The future. High Down (Isle of Wight) High Down is a chalk down making up the western extent of the ridge that crosses the Isle of Wight , England, and overlooking The Needles rock stacks. It includes Tennyson Down . The Needles Batteries and the Rocket Launching site are located on the Down It is here where the Black Knight and Black Arrow rockets were tested before being shipped to Woomera in Australia. The entire site
5251-490: The ground). Some imaging satellites chose a Sun-synchronous orbit because they can scan the entire globe with similar lighting. As the number of satellites and space debris around Earth increases, the threat of collision has become more severe. A small number of satellites orbit other bodies (such as the Moon , Mars , and the Sun ) or many bodies at once (two for a halo orbit , three for
5340-412: The impact of regulated ozone-depleting substances. Whilst emissions of water vapour are largely deemed as inert, H 2 O is the source gas for HO x and can also contribute to ozone loss through the formation of ice particles. Black carbon particles emitted by rockets can absorb solar radiation in the stratosphere and cause warming in the surrounding air which can then impact the circulatory dynamics of
5429-462: The impacts will be more critical than emissions in the troposphere. The stratosphere includes the ozone layer and pollutants emitted from rockets can contribute to ozone depletion in a number of ways. Radicals such as NO x , HO x , and ClO x deplete stratospheric O 3 through intermolecular reactions and can have huge impacts in trace amounts. However, it is currently understood that launch rates would need to increase by ten times to match
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#17328517565785518-400: The mid-2000s, satellites have been hacked by militant organizations to broadcast propaganda and to pilfer classified information from military communication networks. For testing purposes, satellites in low earth orbit have been destroyed by ballistic missiles launched from the Earth. Russia , United States , China and India have demonstrated the ability to eliminate satellites. In 2007,
5607-407: The more dense propellant at the top in order move the centre of gravity higher and make the rocket more stable, when in flight, and thus easier to control. This arrangement had been pioneered by Germany and the United States, whereas the Soviet Union had placed oxidiser tanks above fuel tanks, making it easier to fill the lower tank first. Thrust vectoring was used to provide attitude control on
5696-437: The more powerful Larch . Four Black Arrows were launched between 1969 and 1971. The first two launches were demonstration flights, with battleship third stages and a boilerplate payload . On the maiden flight, an electrical fault caused a pair of first stage combustion chambers to pivot back and forth. Before it cleared the launch pad, the rocket was rolling erratically, and about a minute later it began to disintegrate. After
5785-705: The most potent scientific tools of the Twentieth Century." The United States had been considering launching orbital satellites since 1945 under the Bureau of Aeronautics of the United States Navy . Project RAND eventually released the report, but considered the satellite to be a tool for science, politics, and propaganda, rather than a potential military weapon. In 1946, American theoretical astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer proposed an orbiting space telescope . In February 1954, Project RAND released "Scientific Uses for
5874-546: The older satellites that reached the end of life , as a part of the regulatory process of obtaining a launch license. The largest artificial satellite ever is the International Space Station . By the early 2000s, and particularly after the advent of CubeSats and increased launches of microsats —frequently launched to the lower altitudes of low Earth orbit (LEO)—satellites began to more frequently be designed to get destroyed, or breakup and burnup entirely in
5963-532: The possible use of communications satellites for mass communications. He suggested that three geostationary satellites would provide coverage over the entire planet. In May 1946, the United States Air Force 's Project RAND released the Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship , which stated "A satellite vehicle with appropriate instrumentation can be expected to be one of
6052-412: The quantity of materials that are often left in the ocean. Rocket launches release numerous pollutants into every layer of the atmosphere, especially affecting the atmosphere above the tropopause where the byproducts of combustion can reside for extended periods. These pollutants can include black carbon , CO 2 , nitrogen oxides (NO x ), aluminium and water vapour , but the mix of pollutants
6141-517: The result of a merger. Both the first and second stage engines were produced by Bristol Siddeley at their factory in Ansty , Warwickshire . Assembly of the first and second stages was carried out at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight . Once manufactured, each Black Arrow vehicle was transported by ship to Australia prior to being launched from the RAAF Woomera Range Complex . Black Arrow was
6230-427: The same point in the sky; therefore the satellite dish antennas of ground stations can be aimed permanently at that spot and do not have to move to track the satellite. Others form satellite constellations in low Earth orbit , where antennas on the ground have to follow the position of the satellites and switch between satellites frequently. When an Earth observation satellite or a communications satellite
6319-409: The satellite; the slip rings can rotate to be perpendicular with the sunlight and generate the most power. All satellites with a solar panel must also have batteries , because sunlight is blocked inside the launch vehicle and at night. The most common types of batteries for satellites are lithium-ion , and in the past nickel–hydrogen . Earth observation satellites are designed to monitor and survey
6408-404: The satellites and receivers on the ground, combined with ever-improving electronics, allows satellite navigation systems to measure location to accuracies on the order of a few meters in real time. Astronomical satellites are satellites used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects. Tether satellites are satellites that are connected to another satellite by
6497-521: The second and fourth flights were successful. Black Arrow's final flight placed the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit , making it the first and only successful orbital launch to be conducted by the United Kingdom. British officials decided to discontinue the programme in favour of using American Scout rockets instead, the Ministry of Defence having calculated this option to be cheaper than continuing with Black Arrow. The final Black Arrow to be completed, which never flew, has been preserved intact at
6586-413: The shortest rocket ever to place a satellite into orbit. The first and second stages of the Black Arrow were fuelled by RP-1 paraffin (kerosene), burnt using high test peroxide as an oxidiser . Due to the optimum mixture ratio being about 7, a larger oxidiser tank was required compared to many contemporary launch systems. The oxidiser tanks were located below the fuel tanks, following the practice of putting
6675-536: The space in 2021 to test the material's resilience to space conditions. Most satellites use chemical or ion propulsion to adjust or maintain their orbit , coupled with reaction wheels to control their three axis of rotation or attitude. Satellites close to Earth are affected the most by variations in the Earth's magnetic , gravitational field and the Sun's radiation pressure ; satellites that are further away are affected more by other bodies' gravitational field by
6764-458: The special conditions of space could be useful for scientific experiments. The book described geostationary satellites (first put forward by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky ) and discussed the communication between them and the ground using radio, but fell short with the idea of using satellites for mass broadcasting and as telecommunications relays. In a 1945 Wireless World article, English science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke described in detail
6853-459: The stratosphere. Both warming and changes in circulation can then cause depletion of the ozone layer. Several pollutants are released in the upper atmospheric layers during the orbital lifetime of LEO satellites. Orbital decay is caused by atmospheric drag and to keep the satellite in the correct orbit the platform occasionally needs repositioning. To do this nozzle-based systems use a chemical propellant to create thrust. In most cases hydrazine
6942-409: The surface to the orbit by launch vehicles , high enough to avoid orbital decay by the atmosphere . Satellites can then change or maintain the orbit by propulsion , usually by chemical or ion thrusters . As of 2018, about 90% of the satellites orbiting the Earth are in low Earth orbit or geostationary orbit ; geostationary means the satellites stay still in the sky (relative to a fixed point on
7031-519: Was conducted in the aftermath of the third launch, which determined that Black Arrow's design had no fundamental flaws and that only minor modifications were required. The fourth launch, performed on 28 October 1971, successfully orbited the Prospero (before the R2 mission, it was named Puck) satellite, making the United Kingdom the sixth nation to place a satellite into orbit by means of an indigenously developed carrier rocket. The satellite, also known as X-3,
7120-412: Was designed to be compatible with Blue Streak , as well as to be interchangeable with Coralie . Furthermore, several derivatives of Black Arrow were proposed to provide for increased payload capacity. A total of four launches of Black Arrow were performed between 1969 and 1971, the first two being demonstration flights to prove the launcher's capabilities. While the first and third flights were failures,
7209-485: Was entirely successful. On 2 September 1970, the third launch of the Black Arrow took place; it was the first all-up launch as well as Britain's first attempt to launch a satellite. This launch failed due to a leak in the second stage oxidiser pressurisation system, which caused it to cut out early. The third stage fired, but the rocket did not reach orbit, and re-entered over the Gulf of Carpentaria . An extensive programme review
7298-537: Was eventually launched on 9 March 1974, by an American Scout D-1 rocket flying from Space Launch Complex 5 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California . As of 2024, the United Kingdom is the only country to have successfully developed and then abandoned a satellite launch capability. All other countries that have developed such a capability have retained it either through their own space programme or, in
7387-652: Was intended to reduce the risk of recontact between the upper stage and payload due to residual thrust. Despite this, following spacecraft separation on the R3 launch, the upper stage collided with the Prospero satellite, damaging one of the spacecraft's communications antennae. Despite this, the spacecraft was still able to complete its mission successfully. On the R3 launch, the ascent took 710 seconds (11.8 min) from liftoff to spacecraft separation. Although none were ever built, several derivatives of Black Arrow were also proposed, typically focused upon increasing its payload capacity. In its standard configuration, Black Arrow
7476-524: Was named Prospero after the character Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest . The name was chosen as a reference to events in the play, in which Prospero, a sorcerer, gives up his powers. Prior to the cancellation of the Black Arrow programme, the satellite was to be named after Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream . All four launches were conducted from Launch Area 5B at the RAAF Woomera Range Complex in Australia, which had previously been used as
7565-450: Was not capable of launching some contemporary satellites up to a sufficient altitude to achieve geostationary orbit . Accordingly, one proposal was to add eight Raven solid rocket motors from the Skylark programme to the first stage as booster rockets . Another suggestion was to mount the entire rocket atop a Blue Streak missile, while a third proposal involved replacing the Gamma engines with
7654-476: Was spun up to a rate of 3 hertz (180 rpm) by means of six Imp rockets. Five seconds later, the third stage separated, and following ten more seconds of coasting, it ignited. The third stage was a Waxwing solid rocket motor, which burned for 55 seconds. Just over a minute after the third stage had burned out, the payload was released, and gas generators were used to push the spacecraft and spent upper stage apart. The delay between burnout and separation
7743-431: Was subsequently the prime contractor for the Black Arrow, and assembled the first and second stages at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight , later testing the rockets from the 1950s up until the rocket launch on 28 October 1971. The British powerplant specialist Bristol Siddeley produced the first and second stage engines at a factory in Ansty, Warwickshire . The engines were test fired at the factory before being shipped to
7832-426: Was the first academic treatise on the use of rocketry to launch spacecraft. He calculated the orbital speed required for a minimal orbit, and inferred that a multi-stage rocket fueled by liquid propellants could achieve this. Herman Potočnik explored the idea of using orbiting spacecraft for detailed peaceful and military observation of the ground in his 1928 book, The Problem of Space Travel . He described how
7921-419: Was the third country to build a satellite which was launched into space, it was launched aboard an American rocket from an American spaceport. The same goes for Australia, whose launch of the first satellite involved a donated U.S. Redstone rocket and American support staff as well as a joint launch facility with the United Kingdom. The first Italian satellite San Marco 1 was launched on 15 December 1964 on
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