The Falstaff rocket was used for British MoD experiments in second half of the 1970s. It used the largest solid booster ever built in the United Kingdom, the Royal Ordnance Stonechat. This motor (Stonechat Mk2) was 5.3 m long and 92 cm in diameter and weighed 5090 kg with 4340 kg of propellant. It delivered an average thrust of 240 kN during 37 seconds. Falstaff was launched seven times from Woomera.
Note : Initially, Stonechat had to be the booster of a 2-stage Hypersonic Research Vehicle (HRV)
named Hyperion. This Stonechat Mk1 version was tested on a single-stage vehicle on October 1st, 1969
from Woomera.
Later, it was proposed as booster for high performance Skylark rockets, with a Waxwing upper
stage inherited from the Black Arrow (Skylark 8), or with a SEP
Mage II upper stage (Skylark 17). None of these projects was realized.
Falstaff launches
Listing by James Wentworth, USA
| Date | Site | Vehicle | Mission | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Oct 1969 | WOO | Mk.I | Technology | S |
| 09 May 1975 | WOO | Mk.II F0 | S | |
| 19 Feb 1976 | WOO | Mk.II F0 1 | S | |
| 23 May 1978 | WOO | Mk.II F1 | VF | |
| 15 Sep 1978 | WOO | Mk.II F2 | S | |
| 05 Dec 1978 | WOO | Mk.II F3 | S | |
| 14 Feb 1979 | WOO | Mk.II F4 | S | |
| 04 Apr 1979 | WOO | Mk.II F5 | S |
Note : In single-stage version, Stonechat was called Skylark 9, perhaps retroactively. A shortened variant, named Skylark 16, was also unsuccessfully proposed.