Black Knight (rocket)

Infobox rocket


imsize = 182
caption = Black Knight BK02
cpl-year = 1965
cpl =
name = Black Knight
function = Vehicle for re-entry studies
manufacturer = Saunders-Roe
country-origin = United Kingdom
height = 10.2 - 11.6 m
alt-height =
diameter = 0.91 m
alt-diameter =
mass = 12,500–14,200 lb
alt-mass =
stages = 1 - 2
LEO-payload =
alt-LEO =
payload-location = 800km
(Sub-orbital
payload = 115 kg
alt-payload =
status = Retired
sites = LA-5, Woomera
launches = 22
success = 22

partial =
first = 7 September 1958
last = 25 November 1965
stage1name = Black Knight
stage1engines = Initially 4 chamber Gamma 201, later 4 chamber Gamma 301 engine.
stage1thrust = from 15,600 to 21,600 lb_fdepending on version.
alt-stage1thrust =
stage1time = 120-145 seconds depending on version
stage1SI =
stage1fuel = RP-1/HTP
stage2name = Cuckoo
stage2engines = 1 Solid
stage2thrust = 8,200 lb_f
alt-stage2thrust =
stage2time = 10 seconds
stage2SI = 213 seconds
stage2fuel = Solid
stage2diff = Optional

Black Knight was a British launch vehicle to test and verify the design of a re-entry vehicle for the Blue Streak missile.

The United Kingdom's first indigenous rocketry project, Black Knight was manufactured on the Isle of Wight, had its engines tested at The Needles [ [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-theneedlesoldbattery/w-theneedlesoldbattery-seeanddo.htm Black Knight Testing at The Needles] ] (at coord|50|39|38.90|N|1|34|38.25|W|) and was launched at Woomera in Australia. Designed in 1955 by the Royal Aircraft Establishment and Saunders-Roe, 22 vehicles were fired between 1958 and 1965.

The Gamma rocket engines were designed and built by Armstrong-Siddeley at Anstey, near Coventry. One of the men who designed the engine was C. Donald.

The first two vehicles were 'proving rounds' - that is, launches without a payload in order to prove the design of the rocket. The third firing carried a re-entry vehicle. This flight showed that the chosen design for the re-entry body was a success.

Further firings with different heads showed up some unusual phenomena, and further tests under the code names 'Gaslight' and 'Dazzle' were carried out in conjunction with the United States.

A variety of heads were flown in these tests, including a plain copper sphere and a silica sphere.

All the re-entry firings took place on clear moonless nights, so that the luminous wake of the re-entry body could be observed photographically.

An improved Black Knight, with the tank diameter increased from 36 inches to 54 inches, and a more powerful second stage, named Kestrel, was proposed for a further set of experiments codenamed 'Crusade'.

However, the Royal Aircraft Establishment made various studies into extending the vehicle into a satellite launcher. The Treasury refused to fund both projects, and the enlarged Black Knight was cancelled in favour of the Black Arrow satellite launcher.

25 Black Knight vehicles were built in total. One (BK02) was used for ground testing. One (BK11) was fired as part of the ELDO project, to check out range facilities. 21 were fired as part of the re-entry experiments and the remaining two (BK02 and BK22) are in museums in Edinburgh and Liverpool.

The Black Knight BK02 rocket is on display at the Royal Museum Connect Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands nearly 11m high and stretches up for three floors. [ [http://www.nms.ac.uk/connect/blastoff/black_knight.htm Royal Museum information page] ]

ee also

* Rainbow Codes
* Black Arrow
* Blue Streak

References

External links

*http://www.spaceuk.org/bk/bk.htm
*BBC Radio 4 – [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archivehour/pip/d97r6/ "The Archive Hour – Britain's Space Race"] . 11 August 2007.