Origin of The Space Programme
Scientific interest in space travel existed in the United Kingdom prior to the Second World War, particularly amongst members of the British Interplanetary Society (founded in 1933) whose members included Sir Arthur C. Clarke, author and conceiver of the geostationary telecommunications satellite, who joined the BIS after World War II.
As with the other post-war space-faring nations, the British government's interest in space was primarily military. Early programmes reflected this interest. As with other nations, much of the rocketry knowledge was obtained from captured German scientists who were persuaded to work for the British. The British conducted the earliest post-war tests of captured V-2 rockets in Operation Backfire, less than six months after the end of the war in Europe.
Initial work was done on smaller air to surface missiles such as Blue Steel before progress was made towards launches of larger orbit-capable rockets.
Read more about this topic: British Space Programme
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