By the time the last Skylark rocket was launched in 2005,

nearly 450 launches had been carried out in the nearly

50 year lifetime of the programme. The Skylark is a largely

unsung hero of the UK space programme - in fact its use

went far beyond the UK as it was used also by NASA,

ESRO and German and Swedish space organisations.

It was launched from sites in Europe, Australia and

South America. It was used for research, amongst others,

in fields such as atmospheric studies, astronomy and

microgravity, as well as for technology proving.

Furthermore, it contributed to the training of a whole

generation of space scientists and engineers.

Matthew Godwin has skilfully and authoritatively charted

the first 15 years of the development of the Skylark

programme from its genesis deep in the Cold War era,

through the machinations of Government and the Civil

Service through to its extensive use by the European Space

Research Organisation. He has done a great service not

only to the specialists whose careers have been involved

with the Skylark programme but anyone with a

professional or even just passing interest in space research,

science and politics.