WRE Trials Instruction No. BS179 (SL901)

WRE Trials Instruction No. BS179 (SL901)

Unclassified document dated 27 January 1970, which gives detailed instructions for a Skylark rocket launch designated SL901. It was produced by the Department of Supply, Australian Defence Service, Weapons Research Establishment. The document includes information such as the vehicle specification, firing instructions, safety protocol, instrumentation, meteorological requirements, and recovery procedures.

Skylark was a British sounding rocket originally designed by the Royal Aeronautical Establishment (RAE). Due to population density, Britain turned to Australia following World War Two, to establish a rocket testing facility out in the Australian desert at a place called Woomera. The majority of British Skylark launches took place from there. It provided an opportunity to launch rockets far away from any towns or cities and gave British scientists the ability to observe the southern sky.

SL901 carried an experiment for the University of Leicester to study X-ray ray emissions from Scorpius XR-1. This X-ray source was discovered in 1962 and was the first to be found to originate from outside our solar system, roughly 9000 light years away in the constellation Scorpius. The University of Leicester X-ray and Observational Astronomy group has used over 50 Skylark rockets in their research programme since 1961. The short timescale required to build and fly each payload made the Skylark programme ideal for PHD students.