Air & Space Smithsonian – September 2019

Somewherebetween 300 and 800 milesabove

sealevel,dependingonthetimeofday,a quietly

bitterjokehasbeenorbitingEarthforalmost 50

years.ThesatelliteProspero,launchedin1971—

carryinganinstrumenttodetectmicrometeorites

inlow-Earthorbit—issmall,abouta yardanda

halfacross,andratherflattened,with,accordingto

thesatellite-trackingwebsiteN2YO,“anexternal

shapesimilartoa pumpkin.”

Itwasthefirstsatellitelaunchedbya British

rocket,theremarkableBlackArrow.It wasalso

thelast.Priortoitslaunch,literallyastherocket

wasenroutetothelaunchsiteinAustralia,the

Britishspaceprogramwascanceledandfunding

withdrawn.Britainbecamethefirst,andsofarthe

only,nationtodevelopa satellitelaunchcapability

andthenabandonit.

Originally,theplanhadbeentocallthesatellite

“Puck,”afterthecharacterinA MidsummerNight’s

Dream, who“girdledtheEarth.”But,accordingto

a possiblyapocryphalstory,thatnamewasdeemed

tooupbeat,toohubristic,giventhecomingend.(It

is alsorumoredthattheriskofmispronunciation

byangryengineerswasconsideredtoogreat.)Its

creatorschangeditsnametoProspero.That’s

thejoke:thesorcererProspero,attheendofThe

Tempest, voluntarilygivesuphispowers.

Prosperoisstillhurtlingthroughspace,ina

polarorbit,loopingonceroundtheEarthevery

103 minutes;it is expectedtoremainthereuntil

aroundthecentenaryofitslaunch.ButBlack

Arrow,itslauncher,isfinished.Thefirststage

TheBlackArrowrocketseemstomagicallyhover

duringits 1971 launch.Becauseofitsperoxide-heavy

fuelmix,it hadanalmostinvisibleexhaustplume.

RETURN

OF THE

BLACK

ARROW

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