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Dragon (rocket)

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This article is about the French sounding rocket of the 1970s. For the US spacecraft used to resupply the ISS, see SpaceX Dragon.
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

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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

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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]

See also

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References

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  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.


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