Loading AI tools
French rocket From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Éridan is a two-stage French sounding rocket, which results from the use of the Stromboli engine (also used on the Dragon and Dauphin) for the first and second stages.[3][4]
It belonged to a family of solid-propellant rockets that also encompasses the Belier, the Centaure, the Dragon, and the Dauphin.[5][6] As the most powerful version of this series it could lift payloads from 100 to 420 kg to heights of 200 to a maximum of 460 km.[4] Its ascent time is between 230 and 350 seconds.[7]
Total thrust was 90.00 kN (20,232 lbf) with a gross mass of 2,127 kg (4,689 lb). The rocket had a height of 9.92 m (32.54 ft), a diameter of 0.56 m (1.82 ft) and a span of 1.55 m (5.10 ft).[4]
The main launch site was Kourou, but the first flight on 26 September 1968 from this site failed.[4] Twelve additional launches took the rocket to altitudes of 196 – 420 km between 12 April 1969 and 14 November 1979. Two Éridan were launched in January and February 1975 off the Kerguelen Islands.[3][4]
| Date | Launch Site | Launch Complex | Mission Description | Apogee (km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 September 26 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | Failure | 0 |
| 1969 April 12 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | FU-181B test flight test | 406 |
| 1969 April 23 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | FU-187 test, A cone test | 420 |
| 1969 August 22 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | FU-187 test, B cone test | 242 |
| 1971 May 17 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | FU-203 recovery test | 196 |
| 1971 October 16 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | ATLAS / CM16 / Gemini Ultraviolet astronomy mission | 205 |
| 1972 November 11 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | FU-201 LPSP-EUV2 | 300 |
| 1972 December 7 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | FU-205 JANUS Ultraviolet astronomy mission | 213 |
| 1973 November 11 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | FU-201 (Solar EUV 2) Solar extreme ultraviolet mission | 300 |
| 1974 November 5 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | FAUST FU-214 Ultraviolet astronomy mission | 220 |
| 1974 November 19 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | FAUST FU-215 Ultraviolet astronomy mission | 220 |
| 1975 January 26 | Kerguelen | - | ARAKS Northward Ionosphere / plasma mission | 190 |
| 1975 February 15 | Kerguelen | - | ARAKS Eastward Ionosphere / plasma mission | 185 |
| 1978 November 23 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | Ariane range test | 350 |
| 1979 June 13 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | Ariane range test | 350 |
| 1979 November 14 | Kourou | Kourou ALFS | Ariane range test | 350 |
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
.gif){kind=small}
