Black Knight (rocket)

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**Black Knight**
Fact sheet

Function	Sounding rocket
Manufacturer	Saunders-Roe
Country of origin	UK

Size
Height	10.2 - 11.6 m
Diameter	0.91 m
Mass	12,500 - 14,200 lb
Stages	1 - 2

Launch History
Status	Retired
Launch Sites	LA-5, Woomera
Total launches <td>22
Successes <td>19
Failures <td>3

Maiden flight <td>7 September 1958
Last flight <td>25 November 1965





First Stage - Black Knight
Engines	4 Gamma
Thrust	21,610 lb_f
Specific Impulse<td> 252 sec
Burn time	155 seconds
Fuel	RP-1/HTP

Second Stage (Optional) - Cuckoo <tr> <td>Engines<td>1 Solid <tr> <td>Thrust<td>TBC <tr> <td> <td> <tr> <td>Burn time<td>TBC <tr> <td>Fuel<td>Solid

Black Knight was a British attempt to design a re-entry vehicle for the Blue Streak missile.

The United Kingdom's first home-grown rocketry project, Black Knight was manufactured on the Isle of Wight, had its engines tested at The Needles<ref>Black Knight Testing at The Needles</ref> and was trialed at Woomera in Australia. Originally designed in 1955 by the Royal Aviation Research Institute and Saunders-Roe, 22 missiles were fired between 1958 and 1965. The relatively small scale and single stage design of Knight meant that British scientists could gain valuable data for more ambitious later projects: each rocket cost only around £40,000.

After 1965 the Black Knight missile was re-developed into the Black Arrow satellite launch vehicle.

A Black Knight rocket is on display at the Royal Museum Connect Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands nearly 11m high and stretches up for three floors. <ref>Royal Museum information page</ref>