Brits in Space?

[TheGreenGoblin]

Forgive me if I roll my eyes slightly and if Elon Musk chuckles! Truth is that when Britain decided to get out of the space launch game back in the 70's, the US was pleased to welcome a whole generation of the UK's brightest and best aerospace engineers to their country and their space industry. It will take another generation now to rebuild that base here in the UK, if ever, but I suppose one shouldn't be cynical!

In the outermost parts of our islands, a new industry in satellites, rockets and launch ports is poised for take-off

In the next 12 months, Britain is expected to make a remarkable aerospace breakthrough. For the first time, a satellite will be fired into orbit from a launch pad in the United Kingdom.

It will be a historic moment – though exactly where this grand adventure will begin is not yet clear. A series of fledgling operations, backed by the UK Space Agency, are now competing to be the first to launch a satellite from British soil.

The Great British race to space

British Space Programme

[OFSO]

"A whole generation of the UK's brightest and best aerospace engineers to their country"..(the USA).

Actually they were the second-raters. The Gold Team had already joined ESA, although when I signed up in 1968 it was named ESRO.

A year after they let many of us go on early release, the DG addressed the pensioners and told us he'd made a mistake....

[TheGreenGoblin]

"A whole generation of the UK's brightest and best aerospace engineers to their country"..(the USA).

Actually they were the second-raters. The Gold Team had already joined ESA, although when I signed up in 1968 it was named ESRO.

A year after they let many of us go on early release, the DG addressed the pensioners and told us he'd made a mistake....

True, the number of Brits who worked on Apollo and joined Boeing, Grumman, Lockheed etc. in the 60's was not a small one... Well now we have the 3rd team, with a government that is committed to platitudes about technology, and while I have no doubt these "spaceports" will be used for launches into certain orbits, on a sporadic basis, mostly by US based companies, I doubt that the UK will be at the vanguard of this new technological era, sadly!