Black Knight (Cuckoo)

Mission Profile

The Black Knight (Cuckoo) was a two-stage British sounding rocket in the Black Knight family, a variant equipped with a Cuckoo solid-fuel upper stage for high-altitude research. Standing 10.6 m tall with a 0.6 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 1.25 tonnes, it generated 69 kN of first-stage thrust. First flying in May 1960, the Black Knight Cuckoo supported the British reentry vehicle research programme, testing ablative heatshield materials at Woomera, Australia.