Woomera Launch Area 5

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Launch Area 5
Launch site Woomera
Location 30°57′00″S 136°27′34″E / 30.9500°S 136.4595°E / -30.9500; 136.4595
Short name LA-5
Operator RAE
Total launches 26
Launch pad(s) 3
Minimum / maximum
orbital inclination
82-90°
LA-5 launch history
Status Decommissioned
Launches 12
First launch 7 June 1961
Last launch 25 November 1965
Associated rockets Black Knight
LA-5A launch history
Status Decommissioned
Launches 9
First launch 7 September 1958
Last launch 7 May 1961
Associated rockets Black Knight
LA-5B launch history
Status Decommissioned
Launches 5
First launch 9 May 1961
Last launch 28 October 1971
Associated rockets Black Knight
Black Arrow

Launch Area 5 at the Woomera Prohibited Area was a rocket launch site which supported a number of British experimental launches, including the United Kingdom's first, and as of 2011 only, satellite launch. It consisted of three separate launch pads, which supported 22 Black Knight sounding rocket launches, and four Black Arrow carrier rocket launches. Of the four Black Arrow launches, two were orbital launches, the first of which, on 2 September 1970, failed, and the second, on 28 October 1971, succeeded, placing the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit.