The Blue Streak missile was a British ballistic missile designed in 1955. The ballistic missile programme was cancelled in 1960 but the rocket was used as the first-stage of the European satellite launcher Europa. Tested at Woomera test range, Australia, the Blue Streak project was subsequently cancelled in 1972. Polish missile wz. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The Europa rocket was an early expendable launch system of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), which was the precursor to the European Space Agency and its Ariane family of launchers. ... Woomera Launchpad in the 60s Woomera (31°09′ S 136°48′ E) is a town in South Australia, 488 km north of Adelaide, along the Stuart Highway. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Background

Post-war Britain's nuclear weapons armament was initially based on free-fall bombs delivered by the V bomber force. It soon became clear that if Britain wanted to have a credible threat a ballistic missile would be essential. There was a political need for an independent deterrent, so Britain could remain one of the major post-war powers. The use of any American missile would have appeared to hand control to the United States. This article is becoming very long. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... The term V bomber was used for the Royal Air Force aircraft during the 1950s and 1960s that comprised the UKs strategic nuclear strike force. ...

In April 1954 the Americans proposed a joint development programme for ballistic missiles. The United States would develop an ICBM of 5000 nautical mile (9,300 km) range, while the United Kingdom with United States support would develop a MRBM of 2000 nautical mile (3,700 km) range. The proposal was accepted as part of the Wilson-Sandys Agreement of August 1954 which provided for collaboration, exchange of information and mutual planning of development programs. The decision to develop was influenced by what could be learnt about missile design and development in the US. Initial requirements for the booster were made by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough with input on the rocket engine design from the Rocket Propulsion Establishment at Westcott. 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... MRBM stands from Medium Range Ballistic Missiles such as the SS1. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Farnborough is a town in the Rushmoor borough of Hampshire in South East England. ... Westcott is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. ...

De Havilland won the contract to build the missile, and it was to be powered by an uprated liquid-fuelled Rocketdyne S3D engine, developed by Rolls-Royce, called RZ2. Subcontractors included the Sperry Gyroscope Company who produced the guidance system whilst the warhead itself was designed by the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston. Until 1920, Geoffrey de Havillands de Havilland Aircraft Company had been known as Airco, where he was owner and chief designer. ... F-1 rocket engine Rocketdyne is the premier rocket engine design and production company in the United States. ... Rolls-Royce plc is the second-largest aircraft engine maker in the world, behind General Electric Aviation. ... The RZ2 can be seen on a display cradle alongside the vertically displayed Blue Streak missile at the National Space Centre, Leicester UK ... Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century. ... AWE plc logo The Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston (formerly the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston) is situated in the UK, just 7 miles north of Basingstoke and approximately 14 miles south-west of Reading, Berkshire, near a village called Aldermaston, bordering with Tadley. ... View of Aldermaston village circa 1959 Aldermaston is a village in the English county of Berkshire, two miles north of Tadley. ...

However, doubts arose as the cost escalated from the first tentative figure of £50m submitted to the Treasury in early 1955, to £300m in late 1959. The programme was crawling along when compared with the speed of development in the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The new eastern entrance to HM Treasury HM Treasury, in full Her Majestys Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the UK Governments financial and economic policy. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Cancellation

Eventually the project was cancelled due to its apparent lack of credibility as a deterrent. Some considered the cancellation of Blue Streak to be not only a blow to British military-industrial efforts, but also to Commonwealth ally Australia, which had its own vested interest in the project. The Commonwealth of Nations (CN), usually known as the Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former colonies of the United Kingdom. ...

The missiles used cryogenic propellants that could only be kept in the missile for a short length of time before icing became a problem. To fuel the rocket took 15 minutes, meaning it was incapable of being used as a rapid response to an attack. It had been intended to site the missiles in underground silos, capable of withstanding a one megaton blast at a distance of half a mile (800 m), silos originally a British innovation, later exported to the USA. These silos would have protected the missile from a first-strike attack while the missile was being fuelled. However, finding sites for these silos proved extremely difficult and RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria was the only site where construction was undertaken. The best sites for silo construction were the more stable rock strata in parts of southern England, but the construction of many large underground silos in the heart of the countryside would have carried an enormous political cost. Cryogenics is the study of very low temperatures or the production of the same, and is often confused with cryobiology, the study of the effect of low temperatures on organisms, or the study of cryopreservation. ... A missile silo is a underground vertical cylindrical container for the storage and launching of ICBMs. ... RAF Spadeadam is a Royal Air Force station spanning England and Scotland. ... Cumbria is a county in the North West region of England. ...

As no site in Britain provided enough space for actual test firing, a test site was established at Woomera, South Australia. Whitehall opposition to the project grew, and it was eventually cancelled on the ostensible grounds that it would be too vulnerable to a first-strike attack. Around £84m had been spent. Woomera Launchpad in the 60s Woomera (31°09′ S 136°48′ E) is a town in South Australia, 488 km north of Adelaide, along the Stuart Highway. ...

The British government transferred its hopes to the Anglo-American Skybolt missile, before the project's cancellation by the USA as its ICBM program reached maturity. The British instead purchased the Polaris system from the Americans, to be carried in British-built submarines. The Douglas GAM-87A Skybolt was an air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) developed during the late 1950s. ... The Polaris Missile was a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) carrying a nuclear warhead developed during the Cold War for the United States Navy. ... German UC-1 class World War I submarine A model of Gunter Priens Unterseeboot 47 (U-47), German WWII Type VII diesel-electric hunter-killer (SSK) submarine Inside of the Argonaute, showing the typical obstructed, tiny space of a post-WWII diesel attack submarine. ...

Civilian Programme

Blue Streak at the Deutsches Museum at Schleissheim, Munich

After the cancellation as a military project, there was reluctance to cancel the project outright because of the huge investment that had taken place. Blue Streak would have become the first stage of a projected all British satellite launcher known as Black Prince, the second stage was derived from the Black Knight test vehicle, and the orbital injection stage was a small hydrogen peroxide/kerosene motor. This launcher never progressed beyond the design stage. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1572 KB) Summary Taken by John McCullagh Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1572 KB) Summary Taken by John McCullagh Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Black Knight was a British attempt to design a re-entry vehicle for the Blue Streak missile. ...

However, this too proved to be too expensive, and so the European Development Launcher Organisation - ELDO - was set up. This used Blue Streak as the first stage, but used French and German second and third stages. The Blue Streak first stage was successfully tested three times at the Woomera test range in Australia as part of the ELDO programme. The European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) was a multinational consortium formed in the 1960s to build an indigenous European space launch vehicle. ... Woomera Launchpad in the 60s Woomera (31°09′ S 136°48′ E) is a town in South Australia, 488 km north of Adelaide, along the Stuart Highway. ...

Although a total of 8 launches were made of the multi-stage vehicle, the French and German components proved unreliable leading to the project's final cancellation, and the end of Blue Streak. The final launch was made at the French site of Korou in French Guiana.

Blue Streak Today

Following the cancellation of the Blue Streak project some of the remaining rockets were preserved at

• The National Space Centre in Leicester, England.
• The Deutsches Museum at Oberschleißheim near Munich
• The National Museum of Flight in East Fortune, Scotland.
• Royal Air Force Spadeadam Click here to go to their page!

An RZ2 engine is on display at Armagh Planetarium, Northern Ireland. The National Space Centre is the UKs only visitor attraction devoted to space science and astronomy. ... Leicester city centre, looking towards clock tower Leicester (pronounced ) is the largest city in the English East Midlands. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum is one of the worlds largest museums of technology and science. ... Oberschleißheim is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. ... Munich: Frauenkirche and Town Hall steeple Munich (German: München, (pronounced listen) is the capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern). ... The Museum of Flight is an aerospace musuem in East Lothian, Scotland, and part of the National Museums of Scotland. ... East Fortune is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, located 2 miles (3 km) north west of East Linton. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen of the UK Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by... The RZ2 can be seen on a display cradle alongside the vertically displayed Blue Streak missile at the National Space Centre, Leicester UK ... Armagh Planetarium is a planetarium situated in Armagh, Northern Ireland. ... Motto: (French for God and my right)2 Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (De facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (De facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Office suspended...

Blue Streak in popular culture

Footage from the Blue Streak launch was briefly incorporated into The Prisoner's final episode, "Fall Out". A part of the Blue Streak rocket launched on June 5, 1964 from Woomera, Australia, found 50km SE of Woomera in 1980 is on display at Giles Weather Station. Another piece was located in 2006 but its exact location has been kept secret by the finders. The Prisoner was a 1967 UK science fiction television series, starring Patrick McGoohan. ... Fall Out is the title of the controversial seventeenth and final episode of the British science-fiction-allegorical series, The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan as Number Six. ... June 5 is the 156th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (157th in leap years), with 209 days remaining. ... This article is about the woomera, a weapon. ...

See also

• List of missiles
• UK topics

Below is a list of (links to pages on) missiles, sorted alphabetically by name. ... This is a list of topics related to the United Kingdom. ...

External links

• http://www.spaceuk.org/bstreak/bstreak.htm
• http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/bluestreak.htm
• http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/6133/bluestreak.html
• Blue Streak including newsreel footage
• RAF Spadeadam
• National Museum of Scotland description of the Museum of Flight exhibit