12
votes
Transitioning into space software engineering
Developing software to help with space stuff doesn't just mean building big complex C/C++ engines, or even analytical engines, to use the data. Remember that a significant part of public outreach is ...
- 120k
10
votes
Accepted
Possible places for a launch complex in UK and continental Europe
The Baltic Sea is far too crowded to make it the range area. At any point of time you can see at least several ships within view distance.
For the same reason, while it might seem like the isle of ...
- 54.1k
7
votes
Are the proposed Launch UK facilities in the wrong places?
If you are trying for Geostationary orbit an equatorial launch site is better, but if you are stuck with launch from inside the UK but are not prepared to drop spent stages on voters then you can ...
- 19.1k
7
votes
How did the USA cooperate with western allies during the Apollo program?
The UK did take some advantage of American components, the engine programme for Blue Streak started with licensed American designs that were progressively replaced with indigenous designs. Black Arrow ...
- 123k
6
votes
Possible places for a launch complex in UK and continental Europe
If we stretch the definition of "continental Europe" a bit to include the Canary Islands, a spaceport on Gran Canaria would have a bit over five thousand kilometers of useable range over the ...
- 4,097
5
votes
Possible places for a launch complex in UK and continental Europe
Really a launch so far north you don't want to launch straight east. In fact, if you read the list of rockets they include in the linked article, all of them are sub-orbital except for the proposed ...
- 120k
5
votes
Accepted
Range safety for air-launch vehicles
Yes, the rules are the same for an air-launched vehicle.
From a 2008 paper describing the FAA's approach ("Separation Distances for Rocket Launch Operations" AIAA 2008-7124)
the permit applicant ...
- 12.5k
5
votes
Transitioning into space software engineering
In the space industry there is a great need for software engineers of all backgrounds and interests. I did a couple of internships at NASA and now work at a private space company. Through these ...
- 519
4
votes
Accepted
How did the UK "intentionally self-nuke its space exploration capabilities in the 1970s"?
On October 28, 1971 the UK launched Prospero via a Black Arrow rocket from Woomera, in South Australia.
When the Prospero spacecraft was launched atop a Black Arrow rocket on 28 October 1971, it ...
- 12k
4
votes
Range safety for air-launch vehicles
Historically range safety has destroyed 2 airlaunched boosters that I know of, the 6th and 9th Pegasus launches.
It appears that these were destructed because of obvious loss of control issues rather ...
- 171k
3
votes
What orbital inclinations will be launched into from Scotland?
The proposed location is actually further west than the map above - on the A'Mhoine peninsular in the Sutherland area of Scotland. Therefore the range of easterly launch angles is slightly increased.
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2
votes
How did the USA cooperate with western allies during the Apollo program?
A consortium of European scientists created the Biostack, which flew in the command module of Apollo 16 and 17. The principal investigator was from Germany.
The objectives of the biostack experiment ...
- 47.3k
2
votes
Any chance of seeing a vertical launch of an orbital launch vehicle in UK in the not-too-distant future?
Although not orbital, which was the explicit question asked, a rocket has been launched from the UK to beyond the atmosphere in October 2015.
It is reported by the BBC today.
The BBC article also ...
- 6,143
2
votes
Accepted
Any chance of seeing a vertical launch of an orbital launch vehicle in UK in the not-too-distant future?
Perhaps.
There seems to be persistent interest, see NSTP2, which is an invitation from the UK Space Agency for "proposals for industrial research projects that will contribute to the introduction of ...
- 9,129
2
votes
How does Quantum change it's antenna's shape? (Flagship UK telecommunications satellite just launched)
According to Airbus (who largely built the satellite), the antenna system is called the ELectronically Steerable Antenna+ (ELSA+). ELSA+ is the result of an ESA-funded project.
I have, however, not ...
- 16.8k
2
votes
Details about Rolls-Royce / UK Space Agency's nuclear propulsion?
The goals of the program seem to correspond to the capabilities of nuclear thermal rockets, which use nuclear fission instead of chemical energies to heat and pressurize gas that is expelled from the ...
- 948
1
vote
What orbital inclinations will be launched into from Scotland?
I don't have an official answer for you, but based on Sutherland's location, launches even moderately to the East would fly over populated areas, so they're unlikely. Launches to the West won't happen,...
- 536
1
vote
Is the UK Space's MoonLITE project still on?
As mentioned by @jerardpuckett the penetrator effort lives on as L-DART. A recent (2018) paper talks about prospects for studying lunar volatiles and identifies the groups:
The L-DART concept is ...
- 12.5k
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