UKSA

United Kingdom Space Agency  UKSA    Link to UKSA videos

The UKSA setup on 1st April 2010 in response to the UK's ever growing and very successful private satellite industries, UKAS was not formed until long after the UK gave up its successful space program  between 1952 and 1971 after launching its Blue Streak, Black Knight and Black Arrow rockets.

The first British satellite, Ariel 1, was launched on 26th April 1962. Ariel 3 to Ariel 6 were completely built in the UK.

The British Black Arrow rocket succeeded in placing the British satellite Prospero (X-3) into orbit from Woomera LA-5B launch site in South Australia on 28th October 1971. (External PDF)

The UK is the only country to successfully fully develop its own rocket and satellites yet then abandon its space launch capability.

Black Arrow

UK's 1st Moon Rover to Launch in 2021 See Spacebit 

UK Human Space flight

Space tourists

A UK citizen Helen Sharman won a private launch with the Russian Space Program to visit the Mir space station in 1991 to become the first ever UK citizen to go into space.

Mark Shuttleworth became a space tourist to fly in 2002 to the ISS. 

Richard Garriott also  a space tourist to fly in 2008 to the ISS.

The UK did join the European Space Agency(ESA) but only for satellite launch not ESA manned space flight program.

There have been Astronauts that were born in the UK but they had to become USA citizens to goto space, Michael Foale, Piers Sellers, Nicholas Patrick. 

In 2015 the ESA did fly a British astronaut Tim Peake despite Britain not  supporting the ESA manned spaceflight program.

In 2018 the UK government is looking at possible legal approval for private space initiatives in the future including maybe private manned spaceflight from the likes of Virgin Galactic and Skylon maybe.

Artemis Accord

In October 2020 the UK Space Agency, NASA and other partners have signed a historic agreement on principles for space - the Artemis Accords - ahead of a future mission to the Moon.

The UK will play a key role in this mission. Businesses across the UK will be involved in building the service module and habitation module of the Lunar Gateway, a proposed new space station orbiting our moon.

Personal comment

British space has been stifled by politicians, Britain could lead the world, it has a very robust satellite base, it designed and flew the cheapest orbital rocket. The ONLY country to ever give up a successful Orbital rocket launch capability as it joined the EEC (now the EU), it has Alan Bond and Reaction Engines with Skylon looming, Richard Branson's 'Virgin Orbit' and 'The Spaceship Company'. Inmarsat, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and leads the way in cubesats, Britain could have a great future if there is the right political will.

Rocket bases in Britain

Britain hope is a new Cornish space port to support small satellite launch capability such as Virgin Orbit Launcher 1. Now defunct after a failure in Jan 2023.

In October 2015 an American Terrier-Orion two-stage rocket was launched to become the first vehicle to be launched into space from UK soil from the MOD Hebrides range.

First UK based launch: American Terrier-Orion rocket 

In 2017 a USA Terrier Oriole rocket was launched from Benbecula in the Western Isles Hebrides range during Nato exercise  reaching an altitude of 320kms and was destroyed in space as a test. 

HIGH DOWN TEST SITE, Isle of White

Now obsolete. It was used to test the British rocket engines from 1950 to early 1970.

Black Arrow Satellite Launcher Test (1968)

Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit and the Spaceship company

Richard Branson a British Billionaire is developing tourist spaceflight using it Spaceship 2 design (upgrade from the X Prize winning Spaceship 1 by Burt Rutan's "Scaled Composites")

Branson's 'Virgin Orbit' had developed the LauncherOne Rocket a small satellite air launch system.

Both of these systems being developed in the USA but due to the fact the both take off from a standard runway the British government hope they will one day will take off from the UK new Horizontal 'Spaceport Cornwall' on the 9 Jan 2023. (LauncheOne failed)

Both of these space flight systems started 2020/23 (was 2018).

A'Mhoine Peninsula

Sutherland, Scotland.

The UK Space Agency expects to host first* UK 'Vertical Launch' spaceport on the A'Mhoine Peninsula in Sutherland has been chosen as the most suitable place from which to launch rockets vertically to put satellites into polar orbits, with a  goal to have launches as early as possible in the 2020s (Now 2023/4).

Currently (2018) this is no more that a remote, boggy stretch of land on the north coast of Scotland yet is likely to become the UK's first spaceport. Sutherland is geographically strategic location, with a high northern inclination ideal for polar and near-polar orbit launches being at a coastal location it will provide access to water, enabling safe and flexible launch opportunities.

The American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin wants to be one of the partners. 

Lockheed desire is to bring the RocketLabs Electron rocket to Scotland, this vehicle currently flies out of New Zealand.

A British version of the rocket would have an upper-stage developed and built at LM's UK HQ in Ampthill, Bedfordshire.

 UK Space Agency  £2m  is also available to continue investigations into the siting of a "horizontal launch" spaceport in the UK as well.

*Benbecula Western Isles Hebrides is an operational MOD 'Vertical Launch' UK spaceport since 2015!!!

UK Royal AirForce

They Operate the Skytnet geostationary Communication network of large satellites.

In 2018 they launched from India the  Carbonite 2 spacecraft to test real time video.

They have a contract with Virgin Orbit to launch a smallsat from the UK in 2020 on Launcher 1.

Future

An interesting side to Brexit and Presidents Donald Trump's visit to the UK is the UK government seeking to work with NASA and Jim Bridenstine ( the then NASA administrator)  on launching  an advanced joint UK-US GPS. Britain is well placed as experts on cryptography and encryption for spacecraft particularly Surrey Satellite Technology and CGI UK who did the Galileo system.

Liam Fox, the UK minister for international trade said “As companies across the world begin to realize the transformative potential of small satellite technology and its commercial applications, our established industry and space export network is ideally placed to become the world’s leading supplier,”

Chris Larmour, chief executive of small launch vehicle company Orbex, plans to build a factory in Scotland for its 'Prime' launch vehicle, after receiving a  UKSA grant of £5.5 million as part of Orbex’s £30 million funding round for the development of an orbital space launch system.

On 7 February 2021, Lockheed Martin United Kingdom announced a contract with ABL to launch the UK Pathfinder (6 CubeSats) in 2022, from the Shetland Space Centre on the island of Unst, Scotland.