Plan to revive 1970s UK satellite still orbiting after 40 years

by Kevin Morris

The BBC news reported that a group of scientists and engineers are working to reestablish contact with the Prospero spcaecraft, the first (and only) UK satellite to be launched on a UK vehicle. Launched atop a Black Arrow rocket on 28 October 1971, it carried a series of experiments to investigate the effects of the space environment and was contacted annually until 1996 when the project was discontinued.

In order to recover the technical information they needed and the communication codes, they had to the former Prospero team and go through boxes in dusty attics. Eventually, communication codes were found typed on a piece of paper in the National Archives at Kew, London.

Read the story on the BBC website

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May 4, 2026

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Plan to revive 1970s UK satellite still orbiting after 40 years

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