Overview Of The Black Knight Project: Black Knight, Its Genesis

H. G. R. Robinson Obe. (1990), JBIS, 43, pp.291-295

Refcode: 1990.43.291

Abstract:

Black Knight, though quite a complex vehicle for its time, was small in comparison with the mighty space launching vehicles with which we are now familiar, Ariane, shuttle, and the latest, Energiya. However, when in 1954, at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, we were faced with the need to design a vehicle with the capacity of bringing a fully instrumented payload back into the atmosphere at velocities in the region of 12,000ft/sec., it did indeed appear to be quite a challenge. Hitherto our experience had been limited to relatively small anti-aircraft guided weapons.