The Europa rocket was an early expendable launch system of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO),which was the precursor to the European Space Agency (ESA). It was developed with the aim to delivering space access technology,and more specifically to facilitate the deployment of European-wide telecommunication and meteorological satellites into orbit.
The Diamant rocket was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such,it has been referred to as being a key predecessor for all subsequent European launcher projects.
Vega is an expendable launch system in use by Arianespace jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Development began in 1998 and the first launch took place from the Centre Spatial Guyanais on 13 February 2012.
Black Arrow,officially capitalised BLACK ARROW,was a British satellite carrier rocket. Developed during the 1960s,it was used for four launches between 1969 and 1971,all launched from the Woomera Prohibited Area in Australia. Its final flight was the first and only successful orbital launch to be conducted by the United Kingdom,and placed the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit.
VE 110 Agate is the designation of an unguided French test rocket developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Topaze is the designation of a French sounding rocket. The Topaze was developed by several French companies,notably Nord Aviation and Sud Aviation,and built by SEREB and was the first guidable French sounding rocket.
VE 231 Saphir was a French two stage sounding rocket.
Cora was a French experimental rocket. It was the largest rocket ever launched in Western Europe. It was primarily used for testing the second (Coralie) and third stages (Astris) of the multinational Europa Rocket,which was developed and produced by the European Launcher Development Organisation,the predecessor to the present day European Space Agency.
The Aggregat series was a set of ballistic missile designs developed in 1933–1945 by a research program of Nazi Germany's Armed Forces (Wehrmacht). Its greatest success was the A4,more commonly known as the V-2.
Astérix or A-1 is the first French satellite. It was launched on 26 November 1965 by a Diamant A rocket from the CIEES launch site at Hammaguir,Algeria. With Astérix,France became the sixth country to have an artificial satellite and the third country to launch a satellite on its own rocket. Its main purpose was to test the Diamant launcher,though it was also designed to study the ionosphere. Astérix continues to orbit Earth as of 2023 and is expected to remain in orbit for centuries.
The Launch Vehicle Mark-3 or LVM3 is a three-stage medium-lift launch vehicle developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Primarily designed to launch communication satellites into geostationary orbit,it is also due to launch crewed missions under the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. LVM3 has a higher payload capacity than its predecessor,GSLV.
GSAT-4,also known as HealthSat,was an experimental communication and navigation satellite launched in April 2010 by the Indian Space Research Organisation on the maiden flight of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.II rocket. It failed to reach orbit after the rocket's third stage malfunctioned. The third stage was the first Indian-built cryogenic-fuelled upper stage,and was making its first flight. The ISRO suspects that the failure was caused by the third stage not igniting.
The Sputnik rocket was an uncrewed orbital carrier rocket designed by Sergei Korolev in the Soviet Union,derived from the R-7 Semyorka ICBM. On 4 October 1957,it was used to perform the world's first satellite launch,placing Sputnik 1 into a low Earth orbit.
The Delta 1000 series was an American expendable launch system which was used to conduct eight orbital launches between 1972 and 1975. It was a member of the Delta family of rockets. Several variants existed,differentiated by a four digit numerical code. Delta 1000 was developed by McDonnell Douglas company in 1972.
Ariane 6 is a European expendable launch system under development since the early 2010s by ArianeGroup on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). It replaces the Ariane 5,as part of the Ariane launch vehicle family. The stated motivation for Ariane 6 was to halve the cost compared to Ariane 5,and increase the capacity for the number of launches per year.
The Blok DM-03,GRAU index 11S861-03,is a Russian upper stage used as an optional fourth stage on the Proton-M heavy-lift rocket. Three have been launched,the first in December 2010;the first two launches failed before fourth stage ignition,the first as a result of a problem with the Blok DM's fuel load.
Liquid Fly-back Booster (LFBB) was a German Aerospace Center's (DLR's) project concept to develop a liquid rocket booster capable of reusing for Ariane 1 in order to significantly reduce the high cost of space transportation and increase environmental friendliness. lrb would replace the existing liquid rocket boosters,providing main thrust during the countdown. Once separated,two winged boosters would perform an atmospheric entry,go back autonomously to the French Guiana,and land horizontally on the airport like an aeroplane.
The Interarmy Special Vehicles Test Centre (CIEES) (French:Centre Interarmées d'Essais d'Engins Spéciaux) was France's first space launch and ballistic missile testing facility. Outside France,the facility is often referred to by the name of the nearest town,Hammaguir (also called Hammaguira). It was established on 24 April 1947,by ministerial decree as the Special Weapons Test Center (CEES,Centre d'essais d'engins spéciaux) for use by the French Army. In 1948,it was turned over to the French Air Force,who renamed it CIEES. Its remote location in the middle of the Saharan Desert and its relative closeness to the Equator (compared with Metropolitan France) made it an attractive launch site for missiles and orbital rockets.
VE 121 Émeraude was a large French sounding rocket of the 1960s.
The French submarine Diamant was a Saphir-class submarine built for the French Navy in the mid-1930s. Laid down in July 1930,it was launched in May 1933 and commissioned in June 1934. Diamant was scuttled at Toulon on 27 November 1942 to prevent her capture by German forces,then refloated by Italian forces on 29 March 1943. On 22 June 1944,Diamant was bombed and sunk at Toulon by Allied aircraft.
