Where can I find a launch site

[SuperNova-Rocketry]

My team and I hope to reach into rockets which fly above 5km soon, and with that we would like to have the safety of a larger launch area as our current launch area has main roads and a few houses just more a bit more than 600m from the launch site. Our team is based somewhere near Manchester in the UK and we wanted to see if anyone was aware of possible locations to launch our rocket which would be safer and who to contact for landowners permission.
-Thanks

 

[tim cubbedge]

You probably will get more responses if you post your questions in the UK rocketry forum.

 

[rharshberger]

Isn't there a UKRA iirc? Oh yeah....

http://www.ukra.org.uk/

You may have already tried to contact them, we do have some UK members here that are better qualified to answer your questions but most of us are USA. IIRC from comments made by some of the UK members their launch sites are also government facilities.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Are there any sod farms around you?

 

[rharshberger]

Are there any sod farms around you?

OP is in England.

 

[Hobie1dog]

OP is in England.

yes, I saw that. I would think they would have sod farms over there too.

 

[rharshberger]

yes, I saw that. I would think they would have sod farms over there too.

They might but they also have much different laws than we do.

 

[Tim51]

My team and I hope to reach into rockets which fly above 5km soon, and with that we would like to have the safety of a larger launch area as our current launch area has main roads and a few houses just more a bit more than 600m from the launch site. Our team is based somewhere near Manchester in the UK and we wanted to see if anyone was aware of possible locations to launch our rocket which would be safer and who to contact for landowners permission.
-Thanks

EARS (East Anglian Rocketry Society) (www.ears.org.uk) can accommodate flights over 5K - I've flown to 7772' there. However the agreement EARS has with the CAA requires advance planning, so you must contact the committee at least 4 weeks in advance - do not simply turn up without prior contact. The RSO team will liaise with the CAA on the day to get a launch window). Given the geography of the EARS site (and proximity of roads) a flight to those kinds of altitudes will be required to have a demonstrably proven dual deploy recovery system, with full redundancy. Alternatively, contact SARA (Scottish Aeronatics & Rocketry Association (sara.rocketry.org.uk) who are based at Fairlie Moor in Renfrewshire. They can handle higher flights, again with due attention to appropriate recovery and CAA liaison.

 

[Tim51]

@rharshberger

You may have already tried to contact them, we do have some UK members here that are better qualified to answer your questions but most of us are USA. IIRC from comments made by some of the UK members their launch sites are also government facilities.

Interested to know where this idea came from...? All the current launch sites in use by UK clubs are private farmland. UKRA affiliated clubs have arrangements with whichever farmer owns the arable or grazing land we launch on. Many years ago there was a club based at an airfield, but it was one for private civilian aircraft, nothing governmental.

They might but they also have much different laws than we do.

The main constraints on rocketry here are (1) EX is illegal and (2) the brute realities of geographical space (small islands, lack of deserts, crowded air space). Otherwise apart from small differences, UKRA rules (which follow UK law) are very similar to NAR / Tripoli. An explosives license is needed for handling and / or storing loose BP (but not BP supplied within a commercial motor) and a Health & Safety certificate is required for transporting propellants etc in a road vehicle. No license required for Triple 7 etc.