Not sure who else on here is familiar with Captain W.E. Johns’ character Biggles (beyond that '80s film, perhaps), but it always seemed to me that the basic premise of MR might, suitably rewritten, have served as a Biggles adventure. So just for fun, here’s an idea of how the Biggles version might look:
Crikey. I read a few of the Biggles books when I was a nipper but… not sure how Drax & Moonraker would fit into it all…
The Biggles version would skip the first half of the story - the Blades Club stuff (or use some suitable equivalent) and plunge straight into the second half: sinister goings-on at the launch site. The car chase might become a plane/plane or plane/car chase, with Drax and Krebs employing an alternative method to shake off their pursuer. (Or even keep the Bentley, as Biggles was known to drive one.)
Fun! Nice to see Worrels there too.
Would be worth doing too - but I think Boggles is copyrighted (?).