Jump to content

Dragon (rocket)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dragon
Country of originFrance[1]
Applicationhigh altitude research
sounding rocket[2]
Sud-Aviation Belier rocket family.

The Dragon is a two-stage French solid propellant[3] sounding rocket used for high altitude research between 1962 and 1973.[4][5][6][7][8] It belonged thereby to a family of solid-propellant rockets derived from the Bélier, including the Centaure, the Dauphin and the Éridan.[9]

The dragon's first stage was a Stromboli engine (diameter 56 cm) which burned 675 kg of propellant in 16 seconds and so produced a maximum thrust of 88 kN.[9] Versions of the Bélier engine were used as upper stages.[9]

A payload of 30 to 120 kg could be carried on parabolic with apogees between 440 km (270 mi) (Dragon-2B)[6] and 560 km (340 mi)(Dragon-3)[7]

Versions

[edit]

The Dragon was built in several versions including the Dragon-2B, and Dragon-3:[6][7][9]

Version Stages Gross mass (kg) Height (m) Diameter (m) Apogee (km) Payload (kg)
Dragon Stromboli + Belier I 1157 7.10 0.56 475 60
Dragon-2B Stromboli + Belier II 1200 7 0.56 440
Dragon-3 Stromboli + Belier III 1190 8.16 0.56 560 60

Launches

[edit]

Dragons have been launched from Andøya, Biscarrosse, Dumont d'Urville, CELPA (El Chamical), CIEES, Kerguelen Islands, Kourou, Salto di Quirra, Sonmiani, Thumba, and Vík í Mýrdal between 1962 and 1973.[5][4][6][7]

Date Launch Site Launch Complex Launch Vehicle Mission Description Nation Agency Apogee (km)
1962 December 5 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 Failure France CNES 80
1963 April 26 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 Failure France CNES 58
1963 October 30 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 Test mission France CNES 470
1964 February 10 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 Test mission France CNES 470
1964 April 11 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 FU-104B Probe / Na Aeronomy mission France CNES 400
1964 April 13 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 FU-104B Probe / Na Aeronomy mission France CNES 425
1964 August 1 Vik - Dragon 1 FU-125 ionosphere / particles Aeronomy /ionosphere mission France CNES 440
1964 August 7 Vik - Dragon 1 FU-125 ionosphere / particles Aeronomy /ionosphere mission France CNES 420
1964 December 3 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 FU-103B MPE Ba-11 Aeronomy mission France CNES 390
1965 August 24 Vik - Dragon 1 FU-146 / VLF Aeronomy /ionosphere mission France CNES 440
1965 September 3 Vik - Dragon 1 FU-146 / VLF Aeronomy /ionosphere mission France CNES 451
1965 November 20 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bechar Dragon 1 MPE Ba-16? Aeronomy mission France CNES 404
1966 January 21 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 FU-133 Sodium release Aeronomy mission France CNES 500
1966 May 4 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 FU-130 Lyra alpha Aeronomy / chemical / lyra-alpha spectrometry mission France CNES 440
1966 May 12 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 FU-130 Lyra alpha Aeronomy mission France CNES 464
1966 May 23 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 FU-131 Atomic Hydrogen Aeronomy mission France CNES 460
1966 May 26 Andoya - Dragon 1 Failure France CNES 230
1966 June 1 Andoya - Dragon 1 FU-153 ionosphere / particles Ionosphere mission France CNES 380
1966 June 14 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 FU-131 Atomic Hydrogen Aeronomy mission France CNES 480
1966 June 15 Hammaguira Hammaguira Bacchus Dragon 1 FU-131 Sodium release Aeronomy mission France CNES 500
1966 June 16 Andoya - Dragon 1 Failure France CNES 60
1966 October 17 Andoya - Dragon 1 FU-165 Ions / Electric Field Ionosphere mission France CNES 387
1967 January 25 Dumont d'Urville - Dragon 1 FU-145B ionosphere / particles Ionosphere mission France CNES 340
1967 January 28 Dumont d'Urville - Dragon 1 FU-151 ionosphere / particles Ionosphere mission France CNES 310
1967 January 29 Dumont d'Urville - Dragon 1 FU-151 ionosphere / particles Ionosphere mission France CNES 320
1967 January 29 Dumont d'Urville - Dragon 1 FU-151 ionosphere / particles Ionosphere mission France CNES 340
1967 May 5 Sonmiani - Dragon 1 Shahpar-1 test Pakistan SUPARCO 423
1967 October 4 Andoya - Dragon 1 ESRO D34 / 1 Solar x-ray / aeronomy mission Europe ESRO 248
1967 October 7 Andoya - Dragon 1 ESRO D30 / 1 Solar x-ray / aeronomy mission Europe ESRO 233
1967 October 10 Andoya - Dragon 1 Failure Europe ESRO 1.00
1968 February 14 Biscarosse - Dragon 1 FU-172 Solar Helium Solar ultraviolet mission France CNES 440
1968 March 29 Sonmiani - Dragon 1 Shahpar-2 test Pakistan SUPARCO 420
1968 May 22 Salto di Quirra - Dragon 1 Failure Europe ESRO 225
1969 March 17 Kourou Kourou ALFS Dragon 1 FU-172 Solar EUV 1 Solar extreme ultraviolet mission France CNES 410
1969 September 20 Thumba - Dragon 1 ISRO 26.01 Ionosphere mission India ISRO 400
1970 May 6 Mar Chiquita - Dragon 1 Electron density Test / plasma / fields mission France CNES 430
1972 December 13 CELPA - Dragon 1 FU-206 Protons / electrons Ionosphere / geocorona mission France CNES 380
1968 March 15 Kerguelen - Dragon 2B FU-171 VLF / Ions Ionosphere mission - France CNES 400
1968 March 27 Kerguelen - Dragon 2B FU-171 VLF / Ions Ionosphere mission - France CNES 400
1968 April 1 Kerguelen - Dragon 2B FU-171 VLF / Ions Ionosphere mission - France CNES 416
1968 November 3 Andoya - Dragon 2B FU-182 Ions / Electric field Ionosphere mission - France CNES 414
1969 February 6 Biscarosse - Dragon 2B FU-180 Mass spectrometer F1 Ionosphere mission - France CNES 430
1969 February 6 Biscarosse - Dragon 2B FU-180 Mass spectrometer F2 Ionosphere mission - France CNES 405
1969 February 6 Biscarosse - Dragon 2B FU-180 Mass spectrometer F3 Ionosphere mission - France CNES 430
1969 February 7 Biscarosse - Dragon 2B FU-180 Mass spectrometer F4 Ionosphere mission - France CNES 413
1969 April 13 Andoya - Dragon 2B FU-182 Ions / Electric field Ionosphere mission - France CNES 399
1969 April 17 Andoya - Dragon 2B FU-190 E field / Barium release Ionosphere / barium release mission - France CNES 329
1972 April 28 Sonmiani - Dragon 2B Shahpar-3 Test / ionosphere mission - Pakistan SUPARCO 400
1968 July 23 Biscarosse Dragon 3 FU-188 Technology test France CNES 562
1969 April 26 Kourou Kourou ALFS Dragon 3 FU-188 Technology test France CNES 410
1969 May 27 Biscarosse Dragon 3 Failure France CNES 100
1969 November 18 Biscarosse Dragon 3 FU-192 Plasma Ionosphere mission France CNES 475
1970 October 6 Biscarosse Dragon 3 EIDI-1 Ionosphere mission France CNES 480
1970 October 22 Biscarosse Dragon 3 EIDI-2 Ionosphere mission France CNES 480
1973 February 17 Biscarosse Dragon 3 FU-211 EIDI-3 Ionosphere mission France CNES 460

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1965). Semiannual Report to the Congress. The Administration.
  2. ^ STAR. NASA, Office of Scientific and Technical Information. 1967.
  3. ^ United States. Department of the Army (1975). Your Army: 200 Years. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  4. ^ a b "Dragon 1". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  5. ^ a b "Overview of rocket launch sites worldwide". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on July 8, 2002. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d "Dragon 2B". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  7. ^ a b c d "Dragon 3". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  8. ^ "France Fires Rocket". The Gazette. Montreal, QC. Reuters. April 2, 1968. p. 2. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d "Dragon". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2023-07-30.