surprisedNot only that, but we even launched our own satellite in 1971, Prospero (originally named Puck), which as of 2006 was still working. The launch vehicle was the Black Arrow, and, in typical British style, the whole project was carried out on a shoestring budget.
Unfortuantly, we don't today have our own space capability as the government of the time chose to cancel the project in favour of building Concorde. This makes us the only nation which used to have the ability to launch our own satellites, but doesn't anymore.
