Orión was the designation of a sounding rocket family of Argentina, which was launched between 1965 and 1971 at CELPA (El Chamical), CELPA (Mar Chiquita), Tartagal and Wallops Island.
Developed by the Instituto de Investigaciones Aeronauticas y Espaciales (IIAE), An Orión flight on August 13, 1966 that reached an apogee of 114 km, surpassing the Kármán line, made Argentina the first South American nation to launch a rocket into space.
Orión-1
The first version Orión-1 was flown twice in 1965 and 1966 from CELPA (El Chamical), in order to test the engines and technologies.
It had a length of , a diameter of and a weight of . Apogee was for a payload. Solid fuel mass was with a burn time of 12 seconds.
Launches Table of Orión-1 launches: DateLaunch siteLaunch VehicleMission TypeApogee1965 October 1CELPAOrión-1Test mission90 km (55 mi)1966 July 1CELPAOrión-1Test mission90 km (55 mi)
Gallery
Orión-2
In November 1966, three tests of the updated Orión-2 took place from Wallops Island.
This version had a gross takeoff mass of and could carry a payload to an apogee of . Its dimensions were in length and in diameter.
Orión-2 was launched 22 times from 1966 to 1971. Besides Wallops, launch sites included CELPA (El Chamical), CELPA (Mar Chiquita) and Tartagal.
Launches Table of Orión-2 launches: DateLaunch siteLaunch VehicleMission TypeApogee1966 May 19CELPAOrión-2Test mission100 km (60 mi)1966 August 13CELPAOrión-2Test mission114 km (70 mi)1966 September 1CELPAOrión-2Test mission90 km (55 mi)1966 November 4Wallops IslandOrión-2Test mission90 km (55 mi)1966 November 7Wallops IslandOrión-2Failure0 km (0 mi)1966 November 9Wallops IslandOrión-2Test mission82 km (50 mi)1966 November 12TartagalOrión-2Eclipse mission90 km (55 mi)1966 November 12TartagalOrión-2Eclipse mission90 km (55 mi)1966 November 12TartagalOrión-2Eclipse mission90 km (55 mi)1967 May 19CELPAOrión-2Rat payload90 km (55 mi)1967 September 6CELPAOrión-2Aeronomy mission90 km (55 mi)1967 September 7CELPAOrión-2Aeronomy mission90 km (55 mi)1967 September 7CELPAOrión-2Aeronomy mission90 km (55 mi)1967 December 14CELPAOrión-2X-ray astronomy mission35 km (21 mi)1967 December 16CELPAOrión-2X-ray astronomy mission70 km (43 mi)1968 January 24Mar ChiquitaOrión-2Chemical release mission90 km (55 mi)1968 November 27Mar ChiquitaOrión-2Chaff56 km (34 mi)1969 May 28CELPAOrión-2Biological mission90 km (55 mi)1969 August 30CELPAOrión-2X-ray astronomy mission90 km (55 mi)1969 August 30CELPAOrión-2Biological mission90 km (55 mi)1970 May 3Mar ChiquitaOrión-2Chemical release/fields mission90 km (55 mi)1971 December 19CELPAOrión-2Test mission106 km (65 mi)
Gallery
References