Rocket file · LV-263
Black Arrow
Photograph: artq55 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · licence
Black Arrow is an expendable launch vehicle built by Royal Aircraft Establishment. It stands 13.0 m tall, lifts 135 kg to low Earth orbit, first flew on 27 June 1969. It has flown 2 times with 1 successes, a success rate of 50.0%. It has nothing on the Launch Library 2 schedule right now.
Specification
Vehicle spec sheet
As listed by Launch Library 2. The cost is Launch Library’s figure, not a quoted price. Figures for rockets outside the sixty most-flown were last read on 2026-11-05.
Flight record
Reliability
About Black Arrow
Black Arrow was a British satellite carrier rocket. Developed during the 1960s, it was used for four launches between 1969 and 1971. Its final flight was the first and only successful orbital launch to be conducted by the United Kingdom, and placed the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit.
Upcoming flights
Manifest
Black Arrow is retired, and no flight is filed.
All upcoming launchesBlack Arrow in the archive
From NASA's public image library and Wikimedia Commons. Each photo shows the credit its licence asks for and links back to where it came from.
Orbitburn is a gravity lander game with 25 ships. It's free on Android, and you can play it in your browser.Get it free on Google Play
Common questions
- How many times has Black Arrow flown?
- 2 times, with 1 successes and 1 failures.
- What is Black Arrow's success rate?
- 50.0%. That's 1 successful flights out of 2 attempts.
- How much can Black Arrow lift to orbit?
- Launch Library 2 lists Black Arrow at 135 kg to low Earth orbit.
- Is Black Arrow reusable?
- No. Launch Library 2 lists Black Arrow as expendable, so no stage is recovered to fly again.