In 1971 Britain, launching from Australia, became the 6th country in the world to independently reach space. On the same day it cancelled its programme.

On this week's Untitled History podcast, Dr Space Junk and I talk about the forgotten British (and Aussie!) space programme #history #space https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/the-untitled-history-podcast?selected=BATTLEGUIDETOURSLTD5230660094

Episode 8: The Forgotten British (and Australia... by The Untitled History Podcast

After WW2, Britain began work on its independent nuclear deterrent, building on Nazi technology seized at the end of WW2. Over time, this would spawn a successful space programme that by 1971 was launching rockets into space. Today we’re going to talk about the forgotten British - and Australian - space programme. In 1971 a British rocket, launched from Australia, carried a satellite into geostationary orbit. On that day, Britain became the fourth nation in history to achieve this feat of scientific and engineering genius. On the same day, it became the first nation to cancel its independent space programme entirely. Today, we’ll be talking about Britain, Australia and the space race and the traces of this forgotten achievement that can still be found today.

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@garius This remains one of the worst decisions even taken in the history British government scientific services. If I recall correctly it’s actually slightly worse even than this - as I believe the programme was cancelled 24-hours before the launch - but thr team in Australia decided to launch anyway…

@ImpossibleUmbrella officially it was cancelled just after the launch.

But yes, as we cover on the episode, the decision was made while the last rocket was en route.

@garius I shall listen with interest later on then! Thanks. 👍🏻