88-424: The European Launcher Development Organisation ( ELDO ) is a former European space research organisation. It was first developed in order to establish a satellite launch vehicle for Europe. The three-stage rocket developed was named Europa , after the mythical Greek goddess . Overall, there were 10 launches that occurred under ELDO's funding. The organisation consisted of Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and
176-482: A geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), an elliptical orbit with an apogee at GSO height and a low perigee . On-board satellite propulsion is then used to raise the perigee, circularise and reach GSO. Once in a viable geostationary orbit, spacecraft can change their longitudinal position by adjusting their semi-major axis such that the new period is shorter or longer than a sidereal day, in order to effect an apparent "drift" Eastward or Westward, respectively. Once at
264-542: A 550 pounds (250 kg) Italian satellite-model into orbit. The first launch from French Guiana on 5 November 1971 was also the first launch of the four-stage Europa 2. It exploded over the Atlantic after three minutes. It landed in the sea 302 miles (486 km) from the launch site , and had reached a height of 40 miles (64 km). Overall, the Europa programme had been heavily marred by technical problems. Although
352-562: A European rival to the American and Soviet launchers being developed and deployed at that time. In response to the rise of the ELDO initiative, work on the competing Black Prince launcher gradually came to a halt as attention from the British government drifted towards European collaboration. Following the study of various designs and concepts, the ELDO arrived at a three-stage approach which
440-548: A combined Blue Streak-Black Knight launcher was put forward once again, and this time received a favourable appraisal; the project was assigned the rainbow code of Black Prince ; in official documentation, the platform was referred to as the Blue Streak Satellite Launch Vehicle (BSSLV). However, it was quickly recognised that the programme's cost would be a major issue, one estimate of the total development costs would have been equal to half of
528-417: A dummy third stage and satellite. On this launch, the second stage did not ignite and was unsuccessful. The seventh launch, F-6/2, took place on 5 December 1967. It aimed to do the same objective as F-6/1, but the first and second stages did not separate. The eighth launch, F-7, took place on 30 November 1968. On this launch, all three stages were active and a satellite was fitted. After the second stage ignited,
616-440: A geostationary orbit remains in the same position in the sky to observers on the surface. Communications satellites are often given geostationary or close-to-geostationary orbits, so that the satellite antennas that communicate with them do not have to move but can be pointed permanently at the fixed location in the sky where the satellite appears. In 1929, Herman Potočnik described both geosynchronous orbits in general and
704-459: A geosynchronous orbit. A further form of geosynchronous orbit is the theoretical space elevator . If a mass orbiting above the geostationary belt is tethered to the earth’s surface, and the mass is accelerated to maintain an orbital period equal to one sidereal day, then since the orbit now requires more downward force than is supplied by gravity alone. The tether will become tensioned by the extra centripetal force required, and this tension force
792-412: A prevailing attitude of scepticism; author C.N. Hill stated that "many countries thought that the U.K. was seeking to foist an obsolescent launch vehicle on them, and making them pay the costs". The participation of many nations hinged upon gaining the endorsement of Germany, who was eventually won over and chose to participate. As a result of this diplomacy, it was decided to proceed with the formation of
880-468: A satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. Following this decision, in 1969, many unsuccessful launches of Europa-1 and the resignation of Britain and Italy prompted a reconsideration of ideas. In 1970, ELDO was forced to cancel the Europa-1 programme. By late 1970, the plans for Europa-2 were created. Europa-2 was a similarly designed rocket with an extra stage added in. The funding for Europa-2
968-612: A superior design, partly due to reduce the cost of the project via the elimination of transition test launchers. It would still use the Blue Streak as the first stage. The ELDO later disagreed, but the French would ultimately get their way when Eldo B became the foundation for the later Ariane launcher, which would first launch in 1979. By April 1966, the project's estimated costs had increased to £150 million from an initial estimate of £70 million. By this point, hopes amongst several of
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#17327720084831056-431: Is a four-satellite system that operates in a geosynchronous orbit at an inclination of 42° and a 0.075 eccentricity. Each satellite dwells over Japan , allowing signals to reach receivers in urban canyons then passes quickly over Australia. Geosynchronous satellites are launched to the east into a prograde orbit that matches the rotation rate of the equator. The smallest inclination that a satellite can be launched into
1144-399: Is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day ). The synchronization of rotation and orbital period means that, for an observer on Earth's surface, an object in geosynchronous orbit returns to exactly the same position in the sky after a period of one sidereal day. Over the course of a day,
1232-426: Is available to hoist objects up the tether structure. Geosynchronous satellites require some station-keeping in order to remain in position, and once they run out of thruster fuel and are no longer useful they are moved into a higher graveyard orbit . It is not feasible to deorbit geosynchronous satellites, for to do so would take far more fuel than would be used by slightly elevating the orbit; and atmospheric drag
1320-401: Is negligible, giving GSOs lifetimes of thousands of years. The retirement process is becoming increasingly regulated and satellites must have a 90% chance of moving over 200 km above the geostationary belt at end of life. Space debris in geosynchronous orbits typically has a lower collision speed than at LEO since most GSO satellites orbit in the same plane, altitude and speed; however,
1408-505: Is that of the launch site's latitude, so launching the satellite from close to the equator limits the amount of inclination change needed later. Additionally, launching from close to the equator allows the speed of the Earth's rotation to give the satellite a boost. A launch site should have water or deserts to the east, so any failed rockets do not fall on a populated area. Most launch vehicles place geosynchronous satellites directly into
1496-582: The Ariane family of launchers, which would prove to be a commercial success with hundreds of launches performed. During the early 1950s, the British government had identified the need to develop its own series of ballistic missiles due to advances being made in this field, particularly by the Soviet Union and the United States. A British programme to develop such a missile, named Blue Streak ,
1584-574: The Black Prince expendable launch system and several other concepts. Looking for partners to share development costs, ELDO was formed and began development of the Europa using the Blue Streak first stage along with the French-built Coralie second stage and German Astris upper stage. The programme proceeded to perform multiple test launches but these frequently resulted in partial failures. In addition, Britain decided to pull out of
1672-680: The European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) group. Headquartered in Paris , the founding members of the ELDO were Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands and West Germany; while Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden had chosen to decline participation. The ELDO not only served the purpose of harnessing Blue Streak, but also fulfilled ambitions to produce
1760-694: The European Space Agency . After the failure to launch Britain's Blue Streak Missile, Britain wished to use its finished space launch parts in order to cut losses. In 1961, Britain and France announced that they would be working together on a launcher that would be capable of sending a one-ton satellite into space. This cooperation was later drafted into the Convention of the European Launcher Development Organisation, which Italy, Belgium, West Germany,
1848-568: The Ministry of Technology . Britain was still dealing with, and funding, ESRO . By 1970, Hawker Siddeley's Blue Streak launcher had cost £100 million to develop. Blue Streak was used for the Europa 2's one and only launch on 5 November 1971. Coralie tests began in December 1965 at Vernon, Eure in France, west of Paris ( Société Européenne de Propulsion - SEP, at Vernon, would later develop
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#17327720084831936-627: The Rocket Propulsion Establishment at Westcott, Buckinghamshire ) – Britain did not need to rely on Europa, and Black Arrow would be ready first. Britain then withdrew from ELDO, to concentrate on the Black Arrow, but was committed to supplying ELDO with two Blue Streak rocket stages a year until 1976. At this time in 1969, Britain was spending £30 million a year on space, controlled from the Space Division of
2024-614: The Black Knight came to be regarded as a successful programme, having produced a relatively low cost and reliable rocket, and thus there was impetus present to proceed with further development of the platform. On 13 April 1960, the Defence Minister Harold Watkinson announced the cancellation of Blue Streak as a military programme, and went on to state that: "the Government will now consider with
2112-467: The British university budget. Along with the high costs involved, it was becoming clear that, due to British military satellites already being delivered by American launchers and the domestic science community being perceived as lacking the funding to conduct multiple major research satellite programmes at once, domestic demand for such a launcher was not guaranteed. Accordingly, it was decided that it would be preferable for other nations to be involved in
2200-448: The ELDO organisation, and thus Europa, to focus on the rival all-British Black Arrow launcher instead. Confidence in the programme had diminished due to the poor reliability figures, and this led to its termination. Although the UK left the program, the other ELDO partners were still interested in a launcher. They re-formed as the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1974 and proceeded to develop
2288-522: The ELDO with the ESRO , forming a pan-European space authority by early 1970; known as the European Space Agency (ESA), this organisation would not be formed until 1975. Britain was lukewarm to the idea and did not believe that Europe could launch satellites economically. By 1970, the French launch base in French Guiana had cost £45 million, and in that year France became the most important partner in
2376-564: The ESRO to create the ESA. After F-10 was cancelled, it was decided that Woomera launch site was not suitable for putting satellites into geosynchronous orbit. In 1966, it was decided to move to the French site of Kourou in South America . France planned to launch F-11, on which Europa-2 launched off into the sky. However, thanks to the static discharge from the fairings travelling down to
2464-466: The European Launcher Development Organisation planned eleven launches, only ten of which actually occurred. Of the nine actual launches, four were successful. Four other launches were unsuccessful and there was one launch that was terminated. The first launch, F-1, occurred on 5 June 1964 which tested only the first stage of the launch and was successful. Both F-2 and F-3, which occurred on 20 October 1964 and 22 March 1965 on their respective dates tested only
2552-529: The German stage, fired for an extra 361 seconds to launch the rocket into Earth's lower orbit. The first stage was a development of Blue Streak and was built in Stevenage , Hertfordshire U.K. In June 1964, the first stage, F1, had its first launch at Woomera, South Australia. By the middle of 1966, ELDO decided to change Europa-1 from a three-stage launcher into a four-stage launcher that was capable of placing
2640-593: The L3S, which later became known as the Ariane 1 , was signed. Under this agreement, the Europa III was formally cancelled, while the L3S would be developed as a multinational project. From the onset, this new launcher was to be developed for the purpose of sending commercial satellites into geosynchronous orbit , unlike many other competing launchers, which had been typically developed for other purposes and subsequently adapted, such as ballistic missiles . Workshare on
2728-619: The Netherlands and Australia would join. Australia provided a sparsely populated site for missile launcher testing and development at Woomera, South Australia . The original intent of this organisation was to develop a space programme exclusively for Europe, excluding the UN or any outside country. The initial plans for the rocket were proposed in 1962. The rocket created was called the ELDO-A , later renamed Europa-1 . It measured 31.7 m (104 ft) in length and weighed more than 110 tons. Europa-1
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2816-426: The Netherlands, while Belgium was to develop the downrange ground guidance system. By 1969, the ELDO was beginning to realize that dividing work up by country led to not enough overall collaboration and had resulted in a disjointed framework of planning. This disjointed structure has been accredited as having been responsible for the lack of successful launch. In effect, there had been no single authority or group that
2904-662: The Netherlands. Australia was an associate member of the organisation. Initially, the launch site was in Woomera, Australia , but was later moved to the French site Kourou , in French Guiana . The programme was created to replace the Blue Streak Missile Programme after its cancellation in 1960. In 1974, after an unsuccessful satellite launch, the programme was merged with the European Space Research Organisation to form
2992-498: The US and Europe was then possible between just 136 people at a time, and reliant on high frequency radios and an undersea cable . Conventional wisdom at the time was that it would require too much rocket power to place a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit and it would not survive long enough to justify the expense, so early efforts were put towards constellations of satellites in low or medium Earth orbit. The first of these were
3080-771: The Viking main engines for Ariane ). In 1966 and 1967 operations moved to the CIEES test range near Hammaguir , Algeria using the Cora rocket. The Astris third stage was made in Germany by Entwicklungsring Nord (ERNO Raumfahrttechnik GmbH), based in Bremen , from 1969. The German consortium itself was known as Arbeitsgemeinschaft Satellitenträgersystem (ASAT), which consisted of ERNO and MBB . Although assembled by ERNO in Bremen,
3168-548: The connection in his introduction to The Complete Venus Equilateral . The orbit, which Clarke first described as useful for broadcast and relay communications satellites, is sometimes called the Clarke Orbit. Similarly, the collection of artificial satellites in this orbit is known as the Clarke Belt. In technical terminology, the geosynchronous orbits are often referred to as geostationary if they are roughly over
3256-493: The desired longitude, the spacecraft's period is restored to geosynchronous. A statite is a hypothetical satellite that uses radiation pressure from the Sun against a solar sail to modify its orbit. It would hold its location over the dark side of the Earth at a latitude of approximately 30 degrees. It would return to the same spot in the sky every 24 hours from an Earth-based viewer's perspective, so be functionally similar to
3344-646: The end of the satellite's lifetime, when fuel approaches depletion, satellite operators may decide to omit these expensive manoeuvres to correct inclination and only control eccentricity. This prolongs the life-time of the satellite as it consumes less fuel over time, but the satellite can then only be used by ground antennas capable of following the N-S movement. Geostationary satellites will also tend to drift around one of two stable longitudes of 75° and 255° without station keeping. Many objects in geosynchronous orbits have eccentric and/or inclined orbits. Eccentricity makes
3432-537: The engine was made by Société d'Etudes pour la Propulsion par Réaction (SEPR), part of Snecma in Villaroche . On 2 July 1969, on a launch at Woomera of the three-stage 108-foot (33 m) rocket, the Astris third stage failed to light, after the other two had successfully fired. After the third stage, an apogee kick motor would be used to put a satellite into a synchronous orbit . ERNO would later develop
3520-477: The equator, but the terms are used somewhat interchangeably. Specifically, geosynchronous Earth orbit ( GEO ) may be a synonym for geosynchronous equatorial orbit , or geostationary Earth orbit . The first geosynchronous satellite was designed by Harold Rosen while he was working at Hughes Aircraft in 1959. Inspired by Sputnik 1 , he wanted to use a geostationary (geosynchronous equatorial) satellite to globalise communications. Telecommunications between
3608-433: The firms and other interests concerned, as a matter of urgency, whether the Blue Streak programme could be adapted for the development of a launcher for space satellites." While development of the Blue Streak missile continued with the view of using it as a capable satellite launcher, the rate of work was substantially slowed. Aerospace author C.N. Hill wrote that this declaration had been made: "Mainly, I suspect, to minimise
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3696-497: The first stage (the British Blue Streak) had launched successfully on each occasion, either the second or third stage would fail during every time, preventing a fully successful launch from being achieved. This disappointing performance heavily contributed to work on the programme being terminated. List of Europa rocket launches: Geosynchronous A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO )
3784-469: The first stage once again and were both successful. The fourth launch, F-4, occurred on 24 May 1966. This launch tested only the first stage of the rocket with a dummy stage 2 and 3. This flight was terminated 136 seconds into flight. The fifth launch, F-5, took place on 13 November 1966. This launch aimed to complete the same task as F-4 and was successful. The sixth launch, F-6/1, took place on 4 August 1967. This launch had an active first and second stage with
3872-447: The first stage. By 1970, the project was under a perceived economic threat from America's offer to fly satellites for foreign powers on a reimbursable basis. That agreement had been signed between ESRO and NASA on 30 December 1966 and by 1970 it was becoming clear that the advantage in having a national launch vehicle was insufficient to justify the cost. In 1972, NASA approved development of the reusable Space Shuttle , which at that time
3960-489: The following properties: All geosynchronous orbits have an orbital period equal to exactly one sidereal day. This means that the satellite will return to the same point above the Earth's surface every (sidereal) day, regardless of other orbital properties. This orbital period, T, is directly related to the semi-major axis of the orbit through the formula: where: A geosynchronous orbit can have any inclination. Satellites commonly have an inclination of zero, ensuring that
4048-417: The fourth remained a case study only: Born out of the cooperation between multiple countries, the first version was named ELDO-A and then Europa 1 , and was composed of three stages: The second version named Europa 2 was financed by France and Germany. This configuration added a fourth stage derived from Diamant BP4 third stage. A third version named Europa 3 was studied in the 1970s. The project
4136-415: The mid-1960s, Britain had been contributing 40 per cent of the programme's costs. In early June 1966, the British government ( Fred Mulley ) decided it could not afford the cost of Europa and sought to leave the ELDO organisation – one of the few European organisations by which point it had become a lead player. Britain's contribution was reduced to 27 per cent. This was also at a time when satellite technology
4224-515: The object's position in the sky may remain still or trace out a path, typically in a figure-8 form , whose precise characteristics depend on the orbit's inclination and eccentricity . A circular geosynchronous orbit has a constant altitude of 35,786 km (22,236 mi). A special case of geosynchronous orbit is the geostationary orbit (often abbreviated GEO ), which is a circular geosynchronous orbit in Earth's equatorial plane with both inclination and eccentricity equal to 0. A satellite in
4312-438: The orbit elliptical and appear to oscillate E-W in the sky from the viewpoint of a ground station, while inclination tilts the orbit compared to the equator and makes it appear to oscillate N-S from a groundstation. These effects combine to form an analemma (figure-8). Satellites in elliptical/eccentric orbits must be tracked by steerable ground stations . The Tundra orbit is an eccentric geosynchronous orbit, which allows
4400-450: The orbit remains over the equator at all times, making it stationary with respect to latitude from the point of view of a ground observer (and in the ECEF reference frame). Another popular inclinations is 63.4° for a Tundra orbit, which ensures that the orbit's argument of perigee does not change over time. In the special case of a geostationary orbit, the ground track of a satellite
4488-634: The participants were not high that Europa would be suitable for the envisioned task; the Italians wanted to abandon the ELDO and instead participate in a single European space organisation that would not be as nationally divided as the ELDO. The first launch had been originally planned for November 1966; however, the first two-stage launch occurred in August 1967, while the full three stages (Europa 1) performed its first combined launch in November 1968. During
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#17327720084834576-489: The passive Echo balloon satellites in 1960, followed by Telstar 1 in 1962. Although these projects had difficulties with signal strength and tracking that could be solved through geosynchronous satellites, the concept was seen as impractical, so Hughes often withheld funds and support. By 1961, Rosen and his team had produced a cylindrical prototype with a diameter of 76 centimetres (30 in), height of 38 centimetres (15 in), weighing 11.3 kilograms (25 lb); it
4664-411: The planned flight, the rocket was destroyed because an impact predictor reported it to be veering west of the planned trajectory. However, the rocket was exactly on course and inaccurate readings had been picked up by a radar station 120 miles (190 km) away. Two-stage testing was planned for June 1967. At 11:12 pm GMT on 29 November 1968, the first three-stage Europa 1 launcher failed to put
4752-482: The political damage that ensued from the [Blue Streak] decision". In 1957, a proposed design, known as Black Prince , was put forward by Desmond King-Hele and Doreen Gilmour of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) during 1957. As envisioned by this proposal, an expendable launch system could be developed using a mix of preexisting and in-development assets; the multi-stage launcher
4840-552: The population and internet access 90% as of 2018, some rural and remote areas in developed countries are still reliant on satellite communications. A geostationary equatorial orbit (GEO) is a circular geosynchronous orbit in the plane of the Earth's equator with a radius of approximately 42,164 km (26,199 mi) (measured from the center of the Earth). A satellite in such an orbit is at an altitude of approximately 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above mean sea level. It maintains
4928-435: The potential use of the Blue Streak as early as 1957. Britain and France came to a mutual agreement to serve as the join lead nations on the envisioned programme, while also recognising that other partner nations would be necessary. Both France and Britain approached various other nations to join on the collaborative programme, however negotiations with interested nations were often protracted, in part due to there having been
5016-450: The presence of satellites in eccentric orbits allows for collisions at up to 4 km/s. Although a collision is comparatively unlikely, GSO satellites have a limited ability to avoid any debris. Debris less than 10 cm in diameter cannot be seen from the Earth, making it difficult to assess their prevalence. Despite efforts to reduce risk, spacecraft collisions have occurred. The European Space Agency telecom satellite Olympus-1
5104-533: The programme in order to share the burden of the costs and to be predisposed to making use of the launcher. Diplomatic approaches were made to various nations, however it became obvious that the members of the Commonwealth of Nations alone were not prepared to provide the necessary backing for such a programme. As early as 1961, Peter Thorneycroft , the Minister of Aviation, had been giving some thought on
5192-518: The programme was a politically charged matter. Tasks were to be distributed between nations: the United Kingdom would provide the first stage (derived from the Blue Streak missile ), France would build the second and Germany would construct the third stage. It would carry a satellite, which would be designed and manufactured in Italy, and weighted roughly a ton. The telemetry was to be developed by
5280-423: The project, then planning to build two-thirds of the rocket as well as owning the launch site. Although only on paper, Britain's involvement in the project has been much reduced, after being largely responsible (with an Australian launch site) for getting the entire project going in the first place. However, all of the launchers, to the very end of the programme, were completely dependent on the British rocket used for
5368-604: The rocket engine were the Rolls-Royce RZ.2 . At this stage the French and German rocket stages were mere fibre-glass scale models. The first full-size launch, weighing in total 104 tons, took place at Woomera on 24 May 1966, with dummy upper stages. Tests were conducted by Australia's Weapons Research Establishment and the French Laboratoire de Recherche en Balistique et Aérodynamique (based at Vernon). After two minutes and fifteen seconds, six seconds short of
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#17327720084835456-431: The same core economic problem of being too expensive for scientific satellites while too small for commercial communications satellites. In January 1965, the French thought the initial three-stage rocket design would not be sufficiently advanced to carry the size of payloads required, while another rocket – referred to as Eldo B – which featured liquid hydrogen -fuelled second and third stages, came to be viewed as being
5544-418: The same position relative to the Earth's surface. If one could see a satellite in geostationary orbit, it would appear to hover at the same point in the sky, i.e., not exhibit diurnal motion , while the Sun, Moon, and stars would traverse the skies behind it. Such orbits are useful for telecommunications satellites . A perfectly stable geostationary orbit is an ideal that can only be approximated. In practice
5632-478: The satellite drifts out of this orbit because of perturbations such as the solar wind , radiation pressure , variations in the Earth's gravitational field, and the gravitational effect of the Moon and Sun , and thrusters are used to maintain the orbit in a process known as station-keeping . Eventually, without the use of thrusters, the orbit will become inclined, oscillating between 0° and 15° every 55 years. At
5720-500: The satellite to spend most of its time dwelling over one high latitude location. It sits at an inclination of 63.4°, which is a frozen orbit , which reduces the need for stationkeeping . At least two satellites are needed to provide continuous coverage over an area. It was used by the Sirius XM Satellite Radio to improve signal strength in the northern US and Canada. The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS)
5808-628: The second stage for the Ariane launcher, at the Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) factory in Bremen, later owned by Daimler Benz Aerospace then DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA). This configuration added a fourth stage derived from the Diamant BP4 P-068 third stage, developing a thrust of 24 kN for 46 seconds. The first test took place at 9:14 am local time on 5 June 1964 at Woomera . Thrust
5896-666: The special case of the geostationary Earth orbit in particular as useful orbits for space stations . The first appearance of a geosynchronous orbit in popular literature was in October 1942, in the first Venus Equilateral story by George O. Smith , but Smith did not go into details. British science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke popularised and expanded the concept in a 1945 paper entitled Extra-Terrestrial Relays – Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage? , published in Wireless World magazine. Clarke acknowledged
5984-399: The third stage exploded. The ninth launch, F-8, occurred on 3 July 1969 and aimed to do the same thing as F-7, but ended the same way. The tenth launch, F-9, occurred on 12 June 1970 and had all stages active with a satellite fitted. In this launch, all stages were successful, yet the satellite failed to orbit. After this launch, ELDO began losing funds and members and was eventually phased into
6072-432: The third stage sequencer and inertial navigation computer, they cause it to hang and malfunction; signalling the range safety officer to destroy it. The launch of F12 was postponed whilst a project review was carried out, which led to the decision to abandon the Europa design. Europa (rocket) The Europa rocket was an early expendable launch system of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), which
6160-626: The topic of a joint European project, the main intention of this ambition being to not waste the advanced development of the Blue Streak, and to also not leave space exploration to the Americans and Russians. Britain also made diplomatic approaches to various European nations, the most significant of these being to France. Overtures between the British government and the French government on potential cooperation on missile research, and specifically on
6248-533: Was abandoned, but its planned first stage was the basis of Ariane . The payload for the rocket was overseen by the European Space Research Organization – ESRO . Satellites were proposed to be launched by 1969 or 1970, in a circular polar orbit at an altitude of 125 miles (201 km). ESRO organised the development of early satellites such as ESRO 2B (Iris), built by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Engins Matra . In 1967, it
6336-511: Was able to relay TV transmissions, and allowed for US President John F. Kennedy to phone Nigerian prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa from a ship on August 23, 1963. Today there are hundreds of geosynchronous satellites providing remote sensing , navigation and communications. Although most populated land locations on the planet now have terrestrial communications facilities ( microwave , fiber-optic ), which often have latency and bandwidth advantages, and telephone access covering 96% of
6424-514: Was assisted by the British National Committee for Space Research . The chief project engineer of the rocket's assembly at the space projects division of Hawker Siddeley Dynamics was Dr Geoffrey Pardoe , also the project manager of Blue Streak from 1956 to 1960 (when under de Havilland ). In August 1965, the Blue Streak was tested (static firing trial) with (complete full-weight) dummy upper stages at RAF Spadeadam (the site
6512-852: Was built at Gulkula on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia in the 1960s, to track the downrange path of rockets launched from the RAAF Woomera Range Complex in South Australia , with its state-of-the-art technology operated by mainly Belgian scientists. The satellite tracker was moved back up to the Gove Peninsula in September 2020 by the local historical society, after spending years in storage at Woomera. Overall,
6600-623: Was decided the payloads were to be launched by 1970 from French Guiana , not Australia. In April 1969, Britain decided to invest in a satellite television project by the European Broadcasting Union . By the early 1970s the French-German Symphonie communications satellite were in production, but by then Europa was cancelled in November 1971. The Blue Streak first stage was tested three times in 1964, and also in 1965, with dummy upper stages in 1965. It
6688-463: Was entirely responsible or in control of Europa. Notably, in November 1971, the West Germans publicly blamed the failure and explosion of Europa 2 upon immense divisions within ELDO. The Europa programme was divided into 4 separate projects intended to follow each other in succession. Ultimately, only two of these projects would have any launches conducted, the third project being cancelled while
6776-494: Was given the designation Eldo A , this was later formally named as Europa . According to Hill, the Black Prince and Europa were comparable launchers capable to delivering similar performance and roughly the same payloads, the overlap leaving little room for both programmes. However, there was criticisms that Europa would take longer to deliver than the Black Prince launcher for no significant improvement, while suffering from
6864-455: Was largely perceived to eventually offer greater savings over the launching of satellites using an expendable system. These hopes the Shuttle delivering lower costs would ultimately prove to be hollow. By 1971, over £250 million had been spent on the Europa programme; the Europa 2 itself cost over £4 million. On 27 April 1973, Europa was abandoned. On 21 September 1973, the legal agreement for
6952-430: Was light, and small, enough to be placed into orbit by then-available rocketry, was spin stabilised and used dipole antennas producing a pancake-shaped waveform. In August 1961, they were contracted to begin building the working satellite. They lost Syncom 1 to electronics failure, but Syncom 2 was successfully placed into a geosynchronous orbit in 1963. Although its inclined orbit still required moving antennas, it
7040-459: Was on the verge of changing the world. However, the soon-to-be-common geosynchronous satellites necessitated being positioned at an altitude of 22,000 miles (35 400 km) above Earth, which was far beyond the performance of Europa 1, being capable of launching satellites to a 125 miles (201 km) altitude. In November 1968, a European Space Conference held in Bonn decided on a proposal to merge
7128-548: Was owned by Rolls-Royce), with first successful firing on 23 September 1965 lasting 135 seconds. Fiv e days later the site was visited by the Minister of Aviation , Roy Jenkins . In January 1966, it had been transported to Adelaide , Australia, for launches later that year. Also in the UK in 1967 the go-ahead had been given for the UK's (separately developed) three-stage Black Arrow rocket launcher (made by Westland Aircraft , with Bristol Siddeley rocket engines developed at
7216-507: Was planned to put a payload of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb)–1,200 kg (2,600 lb) into a 500 km (310 mi) circular orbit above earth. The three stages consisted of the Blue Streak stage, the French Coralie stage, and the German stage. The first stage, the Blue Streak stage, was to fire for 160 seconds after launch. The second stage, the French Coralie stage, fired for the following 103 seconds. The third and final stage,
7304-482: Was promptly initiated; however, there were key questions over the then-relatively unknown scenario of what such a vehicle would encounter when attempting re-entry to the atmosphere, there were fears that such a vehicle might simply burn up like a meteor and therefore be unachievable. Accordingly, during 1955, the Black Knight research rocket programme was commenced for this purpose. Following several launches,
7392-491: Was struck by a meteoroid on August 11, 1993, and eventually moved to a graveyard orbit , and in 2006 the Russian Express-AM11 communications satellite was struck by an unknown object and rendered inoperable, although its engineers had enough contact time with the satellite to send it into a graveyard orbit. In 2017 both AMC-9 and Telkom-1 broke apart from an unknown cause. A geosynchronous orbit has
7480-638: Was supplied 90% by France and Germany. On November 5, 1971, Europa-2 was launched for the first time, but unsuccessfully. The failure of the rocket led to the consideration of a Europa-3 rocket design. However, Europa-3 was never created and the lack of funding prompted the merging of the European Launcher Development Organisation and the European Space Research Organisation to form the European Space Agency. The Gove Down Range Guidance and Telemetry Station
7568-427: Was terminated after 147 seconds, 6 seconds earlier than planned. The point of impact was 625 miles (1,006 km) from the launch site, instead of the intended 950 miles (1,530 km). It reached a height of 110 miles (180 km) and a maximum speed of 6,400 mph (10,300 km/h). Near space is considered to be around 60–70 miles (97–113 km). The craft's structure was built by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and
7656-476: Was the precursor to the European Space Agency (ESA). It was developed with the aim to delivering space access technology, and more specifically to facilitate the deployment of European-wide telecommunication and meteorological satellites into orbit. The program ultimately traces its history to the British Blue Streak missile, which was cancelled in 1960. Blue Streak was then used as the basis of
7744-406: Was to be formed of a Blue Streak first stage, a Black Knight (or later a Black Arrow ) second stage, and a military solid rocket as a third stage. In 1960, the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough was given the job of considering how the Blue Streak missile could be adapted as a satellite launching vehicle, in conjunction with other rocket stages. Accordingly, the 1957 concept design for
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