A 50-year-old British space programme drew to a close today with the launch of the Skylark rocket which finally took off at 0600 BST time after high winds prevented two blast-off attempts yesterday.

The UK-designed rocket was the 441st Skylark to launch when it set off on its historic journey from the Swedish Space Corporation’s Esrange site near Kiruna. A spokesman at the Swedish base confirmed the launch had gone "very smoothly". He said: "Skylark has appeared to have completed all of its experiments and we are currently in the process of recovering the equipment where it has landed in mountains north of Sweden."

The final Skylark mission, known as the Maser 10, has taken five experiments into space to study the effects of microgravity, including a biological investigation of the muscle protein actin and a study of turbulence in evaporating liquids. While in space, the tests experienced weightlessness allowing scientists to observe the physical processes that occur when gravity is absent.

Hugh Whitfield, of Skylark operators Sounding Rocket Services, said: "Skylark is one of the most successful rocket programmes of all time, but this British achievement is largely unknown. We should be immensely proud of the contribution to science that Skylark has made and it is a testament to the skill of British engineers that the programme has lasted nearly half a century," he said.

The vehicle, which first flew in 1957 at the start of the British programme, became a relatively inexpensive but highly efficient way of carrying scientific

experiments into sub-orbital space. It was first launched in the International Geophysical Year from Woomera, Australia - a popular launch pad for British

rockets.Since then Skylark rockets have been launched from Wales, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Norway and Sweden.

In the 1950s and 1960s the rockets were popular with young researchers, as it was possible for a PhD student to design a space experiment, launch it on a Skylark vehicle and write up the results in just three years.

A whole range of experiments have been carried out aboard Skylarks, from X-ray astronomy to a study of how frogs’ eggs are fertilised. Despite its success, the government ended public funding of the programme in 1977.

Skylark has since been operated on a commercial basis, first by British Aerospace, then Matra Marconi Space, and finally Sounding Rocket Services Ltd. Although production of motors ended in November 1994, a stockpile has meant that Skylarks have continued to be launched at least once a year ever

since. In all, a series of 12 Skylark rockets were produced as part of the programme. The programme began modestly with the first Skylark capable of lifting 100lb to 95 miles. The final version, Skylark 12, could carry a 440lb payload to an altitude of 350 miles.

The Skylark 7 had the honour of being the final rocket launched under the British banner. It will reach an altitude of 155 miles before falling back to earth.

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