R. A. Smith produced the proposal, under which the V-2 would have been extensively designed to convey a man-carrying capsule to an altitude of up to roughly 300 km (190 mi) above the Earth, although this was insufficient to enter orbit.
At the time, the economic circumstances of the United Kingdom limited funding, and the British government chose to concentrate on building up its nuclear capabilities as well as several other more conventional research programmes, often with a clearer and more immediate military application.
Even prior to the formal conclusion of the Second World War, various nations endeavored to capitalise on Nazi Germany's advances in various areas, in particular aerospace and projects such as the V-2 rocket.
Britain was amongst those countries, which included United States, the Soviet Union, and France, that captured elements of the V-2 programme, leading to several rockets being assembled at British direction to conduct test flights under Operation Backfire.
[3] Megaroc would have been capable of flying along a parabolic trajectory to reach a maximum height of roughly 300 km (190 mi) above the Earth, but would not have been powerful enough to carry a person into orbit.
A pair of windows were incorporated into the capsule, permitting the occupant to conduct observations of the Earth, atmosphere, and Sun; it has been speculated that Megaroc could have been used for spying on enemy territory.
In addition, both the capsule and the rocket itself were to be provisioned with parachutes to slow their descent, which would have deployed at an altitude of 113 km (70 mi), which were intended to permit a relatively soft landing and potentially made both elements of the spacecraft reusable.
[4] A tentative programme timetable had provisioned for a five year period of development and risk reduction activities, after which Megaroc would have potentially made its first all-up flight either in 1951 or 1952.
Even as the nation's financial condition improved over time, the British government typically chose to avoid engaging in the more expensive elements of space research, except when derived relatively cheaply from military projects.