7

There are some comments under How do SpaceX intend to transport their starship/super heavy? referencing rockets in tight places including

whatever you do, don't send it thru the Suez Canal :-)

referencing the 2021 Suez Canal obstruction shown below in visible light and SAR.

Question: Are launch vehicles or payloads transported through the Suez canal very often? Has this ever been done?

"Bonus points" for an composite image with a superheavy sideways properly scaled next to the Ever Given.

Related:

Container Ship 'Ever Given' stuck in the Suez Canal, Egypt - March 24th, 2021 cropped

Source "Container Ship 'Ever Given' stuck in the Suez Canal, Egypt - March 24th, 2021"

ESA multimedia via Wikimedia: Suez_Canal_traffic_jam_seen_from_space

Source and original ESA source

[...] The two identical Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites carry radar instruments to provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface, making it ideal to monitor ship traffic.

uhoh
  • 148,791
  • 53
  • 476
  • 1,473
  • 1
    Possibly the British rockets & missiles sent for testing & launch to Woomera in South Australia in from the 1950s to the early 1970s - Blue Steak, Black Knight, Black Arrow & the satellite Prospero. Also potentially acquired German V2 rockets after WW2, in the late 1940s. Interesting: NY Times April 22, 1946. – Fred Jul 03 '21 at 03:59
  • 1
    On second thought, probably not, due to the Suez Crisis of 1956 & the closing of the canal from 1967 to 1975 as a result of the Six Day War in June 1967. – Fred Jul 03 '21 at 04:21
  • 1
    "Skylark components and payloads are made in the UK and then flown to Australia by transport planes. These include a special dedicated “explosives” transport plane that carries the rocket engines to Australia fully-loaded with their solid propellant. " – Fred Jul 03 '21 at 08:31
  • @Fred it looks like you've got a new answer to "How are SRBs and solid rocket motors transported safely?" linked in the question. – uhoh Jul 03 '21 at 08:46
  • 1
    Interesting video of Blue Streak from the UK National Archives. Unfortunately it doesn't show how Blue Streak was shipped from London the South Australia. – Fred Jul 03 '21 at 08:52
  • @Fred oh no, I had something to do today; now after watching that I've gone off on a reading journey. Expect questions... :-) – uhoh Jul 03 '21 at 09:38
  • 1
    Me too. I'm looking at V2s in Australia. They were sent there as deck cargo in 1947. I presume given that UK still controlled the Suez Canal in 1947 it would be reasonable to assume they traveled through the canal. Fun at the fair? & this. I think the Blue Streak video stated the shipping duration was 4 weeks. From non related research I know it took ships 4 weeks to travel from Naples to Australia via the Suez Canal. ... – Fred Jul 03 '21 at 09:53
  • ... Going around Africa would have taken longer. – Fred Jul 03 '21 at 09:54
  • 1
    +10 for taking a cheap joke in my comment to the previous question and running full-tilt with it! – Carl Witthoft Jul 06 '21 at 11:41

0 Answers0