| Administrative History | The Rocket Department at Rolls-Royce, Derby, headed by Dr A V Cleaver, was involved in the Air Ministry's Blue Streak missile project, part of Britain's proposed independent nuclear deterrent strategy from the mid 1950s. The RZ.1 engine for the Blue Streak missile was built by Rolls-Royce under licence from the Rocketdyne division of the North American Aviation Company. The technology was developed in Rolls-Royce's own RZ.2 engine.
The Blue Streak missile project was cancelled by the British government in April 1960 but the RZ.2 lived on as the rocket engine for a European satellite launching vehicle under the European Space Vehicle Launcher Organisation (ELDO). An RZ.3 booster rocket engine for a multi-stage satellite launching vehicle was in development when the British government pulled out of ELDO in 1968 and the British space programme ceased to exist. This, and other changes, led to the disbandment of the Rolls-Royce Rocket Department in the later 1960s. It appears that at this time most of the departmental records were destroyed by the company.
The majority of these papers relate to the Spadeadam rocket engine test site in Cumbria. The engines were designed and the components made at Rolls-Royce's Sinfin site, then transported to Cumbria for assembly and test firing. The site was chosen in 1956 and the first test was completed in 1959. The site began to be run down during 1967 after the announcement that Britain was pulling out of ELDO, but the Blue Streak technology continued to be sold to other countries and tested at Spadeadam. Work there continued until 1973 when the French and German governments also pulled out of the programme. |
| Custodial History | These papers were collected by Mr Ken Fozard, a senior member of the Rolls-Royce team involved in the design of the Spadeadam site. Prior to his role in the Rocket Department, Mr Fozard had worked in Rolls-Royce special engine projects; after leaving Rolls-Royce he went on to work with NASA. The papers were donated to Derbyshire Record Office by a private individual in August 2001. |