What was left of the hypersonic engine crashed into the desert 400 km (250 miles) west of Woomera.

BBC: Experimental jet 'a success'

The tests, carried out at Woomera (once the British empire's equivalent of Cape Canaveral), involved a charge equivalent to six tonnes of TNT.

ECONOMIST: Bunker-busting

It is the 40th anniversary this October of the final Black Arrow flight from the Woomera range in Australia and the UK's abandonment of its satellite launch capability.

BBC: Skylon: Ending 40 years of hurt