Filton in Space : 65 Years and Counting

To coincide with World Space Week, Terry Ransome tells the story of Filton's involvement in designing and building spacecraft.

Of the many achievements of the local aerospace industry, the spacecraft and satellites are perhaps not so well known. The British Aircraft Company, at Filton, entered the ‘space race’ in 1956, providing part of the first British rocket to reach space in November 1957, just a few weeks after Sputnik 1. The space business continued in the hands of British Aerospace and Matra Marconi Space until in 1999 it transferred elsewhere. During that time over 60 spacecraft were launched with Filton designed and built hardware on board. For some, Filton’s contribution included final assembly and testing of the whole spacecraft.

Terry Ransome worked in the space industry for over 30 years in Filton, Stevenage and New Orleans, and took part in launches from Woomera (Australia), Cape Canaveral (USA) and Baikonur (Kazakhstan). He is currently a Collections Research and Heritage Volunteers at Filton’s Aerospace Bristol Museum.

The talk starts at 7pm in the magnificent Medieval Barn. Seating is unreserved and the doors and bar open from 6.30pm. Free parking on site. Book online direct on Ticketsource or via the Barn website. This talk will also be live-streamed on zoom - the joining link will be email to you before 6pm.

For further details about Winterbourne Medieval Barn see www.winterbournebarn.org.uk
WMBT Registered Charity number 1112908