Features

Spadeadam in Cumbria was opened in the late 1950s as a test area for the British Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM).

The research program was split between Rolls Royce and Dehavilland (later Hawker Siddley).

Dehavilland were responsible for the airframe and Rolls Royce for the RZ-2 rocket engines.

The first rocket firing took place in August 1959, but by this time the Fixed Site Ballistic Missile (FSBM) was being phased out.

The British program was cancelled in 1958 after the deployment of American THOR missile sites in eastern England.

Testing Blue Streak at Spadeadam

You can find out more about 'Blue Steak' in Peter Snow's Inside Out documentary, in which he investigates the legacy of the Cumbrian missile tests.

The Norfolk connection

Did you know Norfolk could have been home to Britain's answer to Cape Canaveral?

Forty years ago Britain had a thriving space rocket programme.

Blue Streak launches in Woomera

Three separate vehicles were under development - Blue Streak, Black Knight and Black Arrow rockets.

Whilst development went on, a search began for a possible launch site and the North Norfolk coast made the shortlist.

The Isle of Wight test site

You can also see a rocket test site on the far west corner of the Isle of Wight, next to the Needles Old Battery, so the Island could equally claim to be Britain's Cape Canaveral!