Launch of Prospero Satellite

Date: October 28, 1971 • Location: Roxby Downs, Australia

Prospero (flight spare pictured), the first British satellite launched on a British rocket, lifted off from Launch Area 5B in Woomera, South Australia.

The Prospero satellite, also known as the X-3, was launched by the United Kingdom in 1971. It was designed to undertake a series of experiments to study the effects of the space environment on communications satellites and remained operational until 1973, after which it was contacted annually for over 25 years. Although Prospero was the first British satellite to have been launched successfully by a British rocket, Black Arrow, the first British satellite placed in orbit was Ariel 1, launched in April 1962 on a US rocket.