Sparta (rocket)
Appearance
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Function | Sounding rocket Launch system |
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Manufacturer | ABMA/Chrysler |
Country of origin | ![]() |
Size | |
Height | 21.8 metres (72 ft) |
Diameter | 1.78 metres (5 ft 10 in) |
Mass | 30,000 kilograms (66,000 lb) |
Stages | 3 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | 45 kilograms (99 lb) |
Associated rockets | |
Family | Redstone |
Comparable | Jupiter-C Juno I |
Launch history | |
Status | Retired |
Launch sites | Woomera Test Range LA-8 |
Total launches | 10 |
Success(es) | 9 |
Failure(s) | 1 |
First flight | 28 November 1966 |
Last flight | 29 November 1967 |
Type of passengers/cargo | WRESAT |
First stage – Redstone | |
Powered by | 1 A-7 |
Maximum thrust | 416 kilonewtons (94,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 265 sec |
Burn time | 155 seconds |
Propellant | LOX/Hydyne |
Second stage – Antares-2 | |
Powered by | 1 X-259 |
Maximum thrust | 93 kilonewtons (21,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 293 sec |
Burn time | 36 seconds |
Propellant | Solid |
Third stage – BE-3 | |
Powered by | 1 solid |
Maximum thrust | 34 |
Burn time | 9 seconds |
Propellant | Solid |
The Sparta was a three-stage rocket that launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT, on 29 November 1967.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Redstone_Sparta.jpg/220px-Redstone_Sparta.jpg)
Sparta used a surplus American Redstone as its first stage, an Antares-2 as a second stage, and a BE-3 as a third stage. Several Spartas were launched from 1966–67 from Woomera Test Range in Woomera, South Australia as part of a joint United States–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena, and the U.S. donated a spare for the scientific satellite launch into polar orbit.
References
- Wade, Mark. "Redstone". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2009-04-07.