Geoffrey Pardoe
From The Space Library
 Geoffrey Pardoe circa 1961 | |
| Birth Name | Geoffrey Keith Charles Pardoe |
|---|---|
| Birth Date | Nov 2 1928 |
| Birth Place | West Ham London England |
| Date of Death | Jan 3 1996 |
| Place of Death | Kansas USA |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Nationality | British |
| Notable Works | Blue Streak |
Contents |
Personal Life
Geoffrey Pardoe grew up in the Wanstead area of north east London. In 1947 he acquired a Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate at the Auster Flying Club. He married Patricia Gutteridge in June 1953 in Coventry. He died on a business trip to Kansas at the age of 67.
Professional Career
In 1949 he began working at the Armstrong Whitworth Company as an engineer. In 1959 he was Chief Co-Ordinator Ballistic Missiles at De Havilland Propellers Ltd. where he was overseeing the Blue Streak long range ballistic missile.
In August of 1959 he spoke at the Commonwealth Space Symposium in London where he explained his design for a satellite launching vehicle using Blue Streak for the first stage and the De Havilland Black Knight rocket for the second stage.
In 1960 he proposed modifying the Black Knight into a "squashed" format so that it could be mated to the much wider Blue Streak booster.
By 1961 his title was Chief Weapons Research Engineer at De Havilland Aircraft Company. He was also Chairman of the Technical Committee of the British Space Development Company. He delivered his plans for a Blue Streak satellite launcher again at the IAC in Washington DC On October 6th 1961.
In November 1961 he replaced W.F. Hilton as head of Hawker Siddeley's Astronautics Division.
All through 1962 Pardoe was a tireless advocate for a Commonwealth or European space program, advocating the advantages presented by satellites for communications technologies.
Geoffrey Pardoe with model of Blue Streak as satellite launcher 1959
During the Apollo moon landings Pardoe became a familiar face on the BBC television as a technical adviser and consultant.
In the 1970s and 1980s he owned and operated General Technology Systems Ltd in Brentford where he consulted on such projects as the proposed Canadian RADARSAT which he thought that the the UK government should support.
Awards
Geoffrey Pardoe was a recipient of the OBE in the year end honours of 1987.
Papers
General Review of a Space Flight Programme based on Blue Streak by Geoffrey Pardoe
