Aerobee 300
Launch vehicle · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American sounding rocket. The Aerobee 300, also called the Sparrowbee, consisted of an Aerobee 150 or Aerobee 180 lower stage with a 20 cm diameter Sparrow rocket as an upper stage. The Sparrow would ignite at 35 km altitude at 53 seconds into the flight, and boost the payload to 10,000 kph, allowing it to coast up to 420 km apogee. The rocket was designed for studies of the sun above the atmosphere and was only fired from Fort Churchill (the White Sands range was too small to cover the possible impact points of the high-altitude rocket).
The sounding rocket as launched from Wallops Station could lift a 25 kg University of Michigan payload to 350 km altitude.
Payload: 45 kg (99 lb) to a 300 km altitude.
Related
- Country
- USA
- Launch Sites
- Wallops Island, Fort Churchill, Eglin
- Stages
- 1.8KS7800, Aerobee 150-2, 2.5KS18000
- Agency
- Aerojet
Chronology
21 events
1958 October 22
16:47 GMT - . Launch Site: Fort Churchill. LV Family: Aerobee. Launch Vehicle: Aerobee 300. FAILURE: Shut down early by range safety when the missile went off course..- Meteorites mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 177 km (109 mi). First flight of the Aerobee 300 / Spaerobee. The Aerobee was shut down early by range safety when the missile went off course..